A 27-year-old woman has been sentenced to two years imprisonment by the Walewale District Court for stealing a one-year-old baby in the West Mamprusi Municipality of the North East Region.
The incident happened on Thursday, April 18, 2024, while the mother of the baby was sleeping in an open space of her home.
The baby’s father, who left home to watch a football match, returned home and realized the child was not beside his sleeping mother.
The distressed couple immediately reported the matter to the police.
The baby thief was arrested on the same day, April 18, 2024, with the one-year-old baby in her custody, by the investigative team.
At the court presided over by His Worship Simon Kofi Bediako on April 22, 2024, Abdulai Zalia pleaded guilty.
She admitted that she and her friend, Rahi, went to the house and stole the baby from her mother while she was asleep.
She was charged with one count of stealing and convicted on her plea.
It is alleged that Abdulai Zalia, who hails from Nalerigu, is mentally challenged and has been stealing petty things in the area.
Cases of child theft are gradually finding their way into news headlines.
Recently, members of the Church of Pentecost at Asante Akyem Agogo in the Ashanti Region also witnessed a similar case, as a 16-year-old girl allegedly stole a baby while service was ongoing.
During service on Sunday, March 24, 2024, the suspect reportedly tricked the baby’s grandmother into handing over the baby.
She convinced the elderly woman that she was sending the baby over to the mother on the same premises to breastfeed him.
However, she disappeared with the baby.
Upon a search, the distraught parents found that the suspect had taken the child to her family house in Agogo Zongo.
The family, however, became suspicious of her claims as she had a history of mental health problems and was receiving treatment at a prayer camp in Ananekrom.
They subsequently took the suspect and the baby to the police station, where she was detained.