A Bengaluru court sentenced psychiatrist Rashmi Shashikumar, 36, to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for abducting a newborn from a civic hospital in 2020 and selling him for ₹14.5 lakh. The verdict, delivered on February 19, also imposed a ₹1 lakh fine. She was taken into custody immediately.
The Case
On May 29, 2020, a newborn was stolen from BBMP Hospital, Chamarajpet. The baby’s mother, under medication, awoke to find her child missing. The police launched a year-long investigation, analyzing 5,000 phone records and 300 CCTV clips, before tracking the child to a couple in North Karnataka on his first birthday.
The Deception
Rashmi had befriended the couple in 2015, promising them a child through surrogacy. In 2019, she took biological samples and ₹14.5 lakh, falsely assuring them of a baby by May 2020. With the deadline nearing, she abducted the newborn from the hospital after drugging the mother.
Key Evidence & Verdict
DNA tests confirmed the baby’s parentage. Bank records traced the money, and phone data placed Rashmi at the crime scene. Emotional testimonies from the biological parents and the couple who unknowingly raised the baby for a year added weight to the case.
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