Yaa Ohenewaa, 29, unemployed, was arrested and placed in custody on Tuesday for allegedly stealing a two-day-old girl from a ward of the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH). The baby was handed back to its mother, Madam Nimatu Yakubu.

According to police sources, madam Yakubu delivered the baby at Ward A2 at the hospital last Saturday. The suspect introduced herself to Madam Yakubu while in the ward claiming that she was visiting a nursing mother on admission. The suspect established a friendly relationship with Madam Yakubu who later asked her (suspect) to take care of the baby while she (Yakubu) went for a bath.

Madam Yakubu returned from the bathroom only to realise that both the suspect and her baby had disappeared.

A report was made to the KATH security personnel upon which the suspect was traced to an uncompleted building near the offices of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA) at Adum in Kumasi and arrested with the baby in her custody. The suspect was handed over to the Kumasi Central Police.

During preliminary interrogation, she claimed that the baby was hers but an examination at KATH proved otherwise. She later alleged that Madam Yakubu handed over the baby to her because she (Yakubu) indicated that she could not pay the hospital bills.