Unable to conceive, Delhi woman takes to lifting kids

A 26-year-old infertile woman and her aide, a rickshaw puller, have been arrested for abducting six newborns from the capital.

Ritu Kapoor, a first-year college dropout, and Mohammad Zia Ul, 30, were arrested on Sunday and two boys were found with them.

Ritu used to familiarise herself with the parents by giving them information about vaccination and help getting their children treated. After earning their trust, she would steal their children with Zia Ul’s help.

“The accused would abandon the children if they did not keep well and look for healthy ones,” police said.

Deputy commissioner of police (West Delhi) Sharad Aggarwal said Ritu targeted families from the lower income group as it was easy to befriend them. She believed such families would not pursue cases against her and even if they did, police would not take them seriously.

Ritu moved to Delhi 15 years ago. She was abandoned by her father after her mother’s death eight years ago, after which she began selling imitation jewellery and inner garments. Four years ago, she fell in love with and married Shammi Kapoor of Hari Nagar.

Soon, the couple realised that she could not conceive and Ritu began facing harassment from Shammi and her in-laws. “Ritu claims she was called banjh [a woman who cannot conceive] which is why she started kidnapping children,” Aggarwal said. “With the help of Zia, who used to take her sister to school, Ritu first kidnapped a three-year-old boy.”

“After the first abduction, Ritu claims her husband insisted on a second child. Then she took a one-month-old boy from a slum in Hari Nagar,” Aggarwal said.

Ritu and Zia were arrested after Raj Kumari, whose 19-day-old son was kidnapped from Rajouri Nagar, lodged a police complaint.