03 January,2009 10:34 AM IST | | Urvashi Seth
MiD DAY reporter bluffs her way into the maternity ward of the Sion Hospital, from where a newborn was stolen on Thursday
Yesterday, this reporter and a photographer successfully entered the maternity ward of the Sion Hospital without revealing her identity to security personnel and hospital staff. A day earlier, 33-year-old Chembur-resident Mohini Nerukar's four-day-old baby was stolen from the very ward ('More security at Sion Hospital after newborn is kidnapped' MiD DAY January 2).
This reporter's subsequent experiences revealed that the hospital has clearly not learnt its lesson.
First breach
Urvashi Seth: Maternity ward mein jana hai. Mujhe paise pahuchane hai. Patient ko paise pahuchane hain
Security Guard: Madam pass nahi toh kaise entry denge aapko.
(After a brief pauseu00e2u0080u00a6) jao madam de do paise.
The reporter reached paediatric ward number 21 and 22, where there were no security guards but many doctors and nurses. To those who asked, the reporter said she was here to hand over some money to a Surekha Patil. There was, of course, no Surekha.
Sheer carelessness
A doctor asked us to try looking for Surekha in maternity ward number 10 and 11. Incidentally, this was where Nerukar's baby was stolen from, a day earlier. Outside the ward, a woman security guard personnel was ensuring that only one relative was allowed per patient.
The reporter's entry was barred by the guard. "What did you say the name was? Did she have a caesarean," the woman asked.
The guard refused to give the reporter entry and directed her to a nurse, who promised to look up Surekha's name in the log book. "Women often used their maiden names," the nurse said, and offered the reporter a glass of water, and asked if she would like a cup of tea.
Criminal neglect
When the reporter said she would rather leave, the nurse took her in the ward and went to other rooms, enquiring about Surekha.
Meanwhile, the reporter was left free to chat up the young mothers, and look at the babies to her heart's
content.
Meanwhile, DCP Zone II, S B Baviskar said the woman suspected of kidnapping Nerukar's child has not been traced. "We have asked all chemists and druggists in the area to be alert, as the woman may return to shop for medicines."
| MiD DAY's verdict |
| It's not difficult for a kidnapper to deceive the gullible security guards and medics at all, and Thursday's kidnapping appears to have made no difference to the security arrangements.It's not difficult for a kidnapper to deceive the gullible security guards and medics at all, and Thursday's kidnapping appears to have made no difference to the security arrangements. |
| u00a0 |
|
Features of the KEM hospital security project |
| The BMC is implementing a pilot security project at KEM, which will later be replicated in other civic hospitals ' 50 CCTVs to monitor 16 locations at the hospital on three screens ' Four door-frame detectors, 13 hand-held ones, 6 sirens ' Staff is being trained to respond to the sirens by locking wards immediately ' Only employees' vehicles to be parked inside the hospital ' Patient's car will have to leave immediately after dropping him/her at the hospital ' Only one or two visitors to be allowed ' Number of security personnel equipped with walkie-talkies to be increased - Inputs by Somita Pal |
| u00a0 |
| Other cases of kidnapping |
| May 8, 2007: An unidentified woman posing as a hospital nurse kidnapped a three-day-old baby boy away from a civic maternity home in Jogeshwari April 2006: Two women kidnapped a newborn from Indira Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Bhiwandi, 30 minutes after he was bornu00a0 January 2005: A newbornu00a0 girl was stolen from Bhabha hospital in Bandra. The kidnapper, a middle-aged woman, posed as the in-charge of the post-natal ward June 2004: Five-month-old Shivam Mishra, who was admitted for heart surgery, was kidnapped from Sion Hospital Jan 2003: A four-day-old boy was kidnapped from JJ hospital in Byculla by a couple posing as doctors |
