A 21-year-old Bangladeshi national, Rubina Irshad Sheikh, residing in Sector 5, Koparkhairane, Navi Mumbai, escaped from Mumbai’s Sir JJ Hospital on Thursday morning while under judicial custody. She had been lodged at Byculla District Jail in connection with multiple criminal cases.

According to police, Sheikh was arrested on January 13 this year by Vashi police along with her mother, Ayesha Irshad Sheikh, 40, elder sister Reshma Irshad Sheikh, 19, elder brother Hussain alias Sagar Sheikh, 23, and a 17-year-old younger brother. They were booked under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with provisions of the Passport Act and Foreigners Act.

Sheikh was admitted to JJ Hospital’s Ward No. 10 on August 11 for treatment of a cold, fever, skin ailments, and pregnancy-related care, as she was five months pregnant. On August 14, while being escorted for a sonography, she asked the woman constable on duty for permission to use the bathroom. Taking advantage of the situation, she fled the hospital premises.