Thane: A Thane court has sentenced three people to three years of rigorous imprisonment (RI) for kidnapping a baby of five months in the city. Additional sessions judge Suryakant S Shinde found the accused, including two women, guilty of charges under BNS for the crime that took place in Oct last year.As per the case details, the infant’s mother, Vanita Rakesh Pawar, a scrap collector, reported that the baby was abducted while the family was sleeping under the Rabodi flyover bridge on Oct 12, 2024. The CCTV footage from nearby buildings was analysed, and it captured a woman in a red dress picking up the baby and later meeting two other accused to hand him over. Based on a tip-off, a police team raided a premises in Rabodi, rescued the baby, and arrested Javed Amjat Ali Nhavi (35), Jayashree Yakub Naik (45), and Surekha Rajesh Khandagale (34).The court acquitted them of charges under section 143 (trafficking), noting that while kidnapping was proven, the “exact purpose” (such as sale or forced labour) was not established by the prosecution.
