THE woman who allegedly abducted a nine-day-old baby boy from his mother two Saturdays ago was yesterday remanded to prison when she appeared at the Whim Magistrate’s Court on the Corentyne.

Baitoon Hoosain of Chesney Village Front, Corentyne pleaded not guilty to the charge of child stealing when it was read to her by Magistrate Rabindranauth Singh who remanded her to prison until June 14, 2014.

Police on Sunday rescued the baby, who is now 20 days old, from a house at Chesney Front, Corentyne where the alleged abductor was confronted.

According to reports, the alleged abductor had disguised her appearance by wearing a hijab (veil worn by Muslim females) when she initially approached the baby’s mother.

The woman, who had identified herself as Bibi Khan to the baby’s mother, had told the police that she was pregnant, but when she was taken to the hospital, this was proven false.

Commander of ‘B’ Division, Brian Joseph confirmed on Sunday that the woman and a man, who is said to be her husband, were in custody and his division was investigating the incident.

The woman allegedly took the baby to several places before she was caught celebrating the “nine-day” (a cultural practice) a few days ago. Meanwhile, Berbicians turned out in their numbers on Sunday at the Whim Police Station to see who the alleged abductor was.

According to the police, “at about 09:00h on Sunday, June 01, 2014, the male baby that was abducted from his mother, Sandra McLean, called ‘Pinky’, of No. 60 Village, Corentyne, on May 24, 2014, at the Port Mourant Market, Corentyne, was recovered by the police in a house at Chesney Front, Corentyne. A man and a woman have been arrested and are in police custody assisting with the investigations.”

On May 29, police arrested Bibi Khan, a former sales representative of Multi-Technology Vision (MTV Channel 14/65) in connection with the kidnapping of the child, and his parents were taken to CID Headquarters in the city from Berbice to confirm whether she was the suspect.

However, the parents did not finger Khan of Zeeburg, West Coast Demerara, who was arrested by the police late Wednesday night, along with another person.

According to McLean, a woman met her at the hospital where she was admitted to await delivery and cultivated her friendship. The woman expressed an interest in the newborn and gave her $5,000 for the child, on two separate occasions.
Then, nine days after the boy’s birth, the family was hosting a celebration, when the alleged abductor turned up and offered to sponsor part of the festivities. The mother, together with the baby and the woman, made their way to Rose Hall Market, Corentyne, Berbice, where the woman sent the mother to purchase fish before disappearing with the infant.
The disappearance of the baby left the parents, Ravikant Vistonauth and ‘Pinky’, who live at Number 60 Village, Corentyne, frantic and distressed over the infant’s whereabouts.

According to ‘Pinky’s’ aunt, Radhika DeBarros, a woman named Bibi from the Surinamese border town of Nickerie befriended her niece while she was in hospital awaiting delivery.
“Since then, she has been around to see the baby rather often,” De Barros said, adding, “The woman was nice; I can’t even tell you how this happen.”

On the day of the abduction, DeBarros said, ‘Pinky’ had gone to the market in the company of the woman and had asked her to keep the child while she went to get something.
“In two minutes, the woman disappeared,” DeBarros said.

(By Asif Hakim)