Mumbai : A seven-month-old infant was on Wednesday allegedly stolen by an elderly woman from a government run women-and-child hospital in south Mumbai, police said.

The baby boy, who was suffering from skin infection, was brought to the Cama and Albless Hospital on Wednesday afternoon by his 20-year-old mother Durga Kale when the accused, suspected to be aged between 60-70 years old, tricked her before taking away the boy, police said.

The incident occurred at the Out Patient Department (OPD) premises when the boy’s mother, who hails from Chennai, went to collect a form required to complete hospital procedures for the treatment of the infant, police added.

According to police, Kale, who resides at Churchgate area, had taken her child to the hospital at about 1 pm.

The accused woman, who was sitting next to her, struck a conversation during which she claimed she knew Kale’s brother-in-law to gain her confidence, police said.

As they became little friendly, the accused asked Kale to hand over the boy to her and get the hospital formalities completed.

As she returned after a while with the form, the elderly woman and her son could not be seen following which Kale raised an alarm.

“Kale and her husband searched the entire hospital but in vain. Now we will take the help of the CCTV footages to identify the lady,” said a police officer at Azad Maidan police station.

However, the officer said there could be chances that the CCTVs may not have covered the area where the incident took place.

Kale’s cousin sister Malan Kale stated, “the elderly lady was wearing a red saree. Since the accused claimed that she knew my husband, he is being questioned now. My husband is innocent.”