SHILLONG: A woman was arrested on Sunday from Mawngap for stealing a three-week-old baby girl from the village. The accused, identified as Saralinda Kharphuli, ran away with the infant on Saturday only to be detected by police in the wee hours of Sunday.Ian Swer, Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Sohra Sub-Division, said the baby was rescued from Umran Dairy at 2.30 am on Sunday.
Interestingly, according to police, the accused had befriended the mother of the child, Shibani Khyriem, and disappeared with the baby when the unsuspecting mother was away at work.
“A few months back Kharphuli had told her mother-in-law that she was three months pregnant. She went back to Mawngap where her mother resides and befriended Khyriem who is a neighbour,” Swer said and added, “On the pretext of taking care of the baby while the mother was away, Kharphuli kidnapped the child and took it to Umran Dairy.” It is learnt that the accused told her mother-in-law that it was her child.
A case has been registered under Section 363 of the IPC in this regard.