The suspects with the baby
A 24-year-old woman has been grabbed by the Sowutuom police in Accra for allegedly stealing a two-month-old baby girl.
According to the police, the suspect, Linda Laizy Ama, bolted with the baby to New-Abu, a village near Akrampa in the Central Region, where she was arrested.
She was said to have stolen the baby from a friend who had been tasked to take care of her (baby) while the mother, Liza Oduro Amankwah, went to buy some drug at a nearby pharmacy store.
Police intelligence led to her arrest on March 29, 2018 at New-Abu, her hometown.
Confirming the story to DAILY GUIDE, DSP Mrs Favor Ackon-Fleischer, crime officer of the Sowutuom police station, said the incident occurred on March 16, 2018.
Madam Amankwah, the victim’s mother, lives in the same house with one Beatrice Idan, a witness in the case.
On that fateful day, Amankwah told Idan to take care of her daughter while she went to buy some drugs at the Sowutuom station.
Laizy, who was then a visitor of Idan and living in her room, took the baby under the pretext of caring for her, but bolted with the child to an unknown location.
She then changed her mobile number to avoid being traced to her location.
After several attempts to locate her had failed, the two women reported the case to the Sowutuom police for assistance.
The police later traced the suspect to her home town where she was found with the baby and apprehended her.
Police investigation revealed that sometime in January 2018, the suspect, who was then nine months’ pregnant, left her hometown for Takoradi with intent to deliver.
She however, lost the baby upon delivery and came to Accra to live with Beatrice Idan.
According to the police, the suspect claimed she needed a replacement for her dead baby to save her marriage since she had already lost two other children during birth.
The crime officer said Laizy Ama, after stealing the baby, relocated to her hometown to show the baby to her husband.
When she was interrogated, she admitted the offence and further stated that she stole the child to avoid being ridiculed by her village folks and in-laws.
The baby has since been handed over to her mother and a medical form issued for her to be sent to the hospital for further examination and treatment.
Meanwhile, the suspect is still in police custody awaiting prosecution.
By Linda Tenyah-Ayettey