Bhubaneswar: Visually-challenged mother’s abducted child rescued from Balasore; accused arrested

Bhubaneswar: A toddler who was kidnapped from the arms of his visually-challenged mother near Bhubaneswar’s Ram Mandir has been rescued from Balasore, police said Tuesday.

The accused was arrested by a special police team and was under interrogation at the time of filing this report.

The 18-month-old child was reportedly kidnapped Saturday night in front of the Ram Mandir. The child’s visually-challenged mother, Jayanti Mallik, lodged an FIR at Kharvel Nagar Police Station Sunday, after which police registered a kidnapping case and launched an investigation.

It is alleged that, taking advantage of Jayanti’s disability, the accused abducted the child.

According to a source, Jayanti has two children — a 7-year-old daughter, Saina, and the kidnapped son, Shubham, who is nearly 18 months old. She has been staying at a girls’ shelter home in Bhubaneswar’s Niladri Vihar area and has been begging in front of the Ram Mandir for the past five years. She usually returns to the shelter at night after spending the day begging. However, due to heavy rain Sunday night, she could not return to the shelter and stayed near the temple with both her children, a source said.

Around midnight, a man approached and played with the younger child. He offered the toddler food and juice, showed him a mobile phone, and spent nearly two hours engaging the child in playful conversation. Around 2am, Jayanti noticed her son was missing and raised an alarm, seeking help from locals and police, the source added.

Following a swift investigation, police located and rescued the child from Balasore and arrested the accused.

PNN

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