Cauane Malaquias Costa was found at home with the newborn in her arms. She wanted to raise the boy as her own after lying to her family about being pregnant
The newborn was in the holdall
Footage shows suspect Cauane Malaquias Costa with the baby(CEN)
A 19-year-old woman who stole a newborn baby from a hospital’s maternity unit by stuffing the boy into a bag, has been arrested after she was tracked down using CCTV.
Cauane Malaquias Costa told police she snatched the hours-old tot because she had lied to her boyfriend, faking that she was pregnant. A day before she took little Ravi, the teen had visited the hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to visit a friend on the maternity ward who had also given birth.
She returned to the hospital and waited for Ravi’s mother Nivea Maria and grandmother to fall asleep before sneaking into their room to snatch the baby. Ravi’s horrified gran raised the alarm and police tracked Costa on CCTV leaving the hospital with a huge bag in the early hours of the morning, local media has reported.
Detective Mario Andrade, head of the 4th Police Station, said: “She said she did visit her friend but wandered around the hospital corridor. Around 3 pm, she passed by the ward, saw Ravi and became interested in this child.”
The detective said she took Ravi hours later. He said: “At around 1 am, when Ravi’s mother and another person were sleeping, Cauane took advantage, entered, and took the baby.” While police were searching, one of Costa’s suspicious neighbours called police over the sudden appearance of a newborn baby.
When police raided the house they found Costa holding baby Ravi and at first claimed to be his mother.
Detective Andrade said: “When asked why she did it, she remained silent. I believe she did it to raise him as her own child, since she had a boyfriend and lied to him that she was pregnant. For him and the whole family.”
The baby was safe
The baby was safe(Police Handout)
The teen has been arrested
The teen has been arrested(Police Handout)
She later admitted she had faked a pregnancy and had even sent photos of herself inside the maternity ward to her family claiming she was going into labour. Shortly afterwards, baby Ravi was happily reunited with mum Nivea and dad Matheus Maranhao.
Police say Costa is to be charged with child abduction and could face up to six years in prison
More importantly, to stay updated with the latest news, health updates, happenings, and interesting stories, visit thescopermedia.com