Child abduction incident: How serious is the problem?

The abduction of a four-yearold boy had allegedly taken place, amidst reports that the suspects involved had offered money to several mothers in the Puttalam area to persuade them to sell their children, police said.

Five suspects, including two women and an Indian national were taken into custody in connection with the alleged abduction. The child was found unharmed last Friday (9) night. One of the arrested women is thought to be the wife of the Indian national.

The boy, a resident of Vaana Road, had allegedly been abducted on Friday morning by a woman disguised as a beggar. The child had been on his way to a shop near his house when he had allegedly been abducted.

After a complaint was lodged at the Puttalam police station, six police teams were deployed to locate the child. He was later found while being transported in a three-wheeler from Wanathavilluwa to Puttalam.

Meanwhile, reports have also emerged that several days prior to the abduction, a woman who was arrested in connection with the abduction had visited families in the village of Thambapanniya in the Puttalam District. The village is occupied by Muslim families who were forced to flee their homes during the ethnic disturbances. The suspect had allegedly offered money to mothers of young children, aged between 3 and 5 years, claiming that a foreign national was willing to buy young children and would be compensating the parents periodically until the children turned 18.

Meanwhile Puttalam police said that on interrogation, the female suspect married to the Indian national had claimed that she had lost her child by her husband but had carried on an elaborate charade by making him believe that their child was alive and well. The husband had been working overseas for several years and had only returned to the country recently. The female suspect had claimed she tried to abduct the child in order to make him believe that the child was theirs.

Police are conducting further investigations into the incident. The suspects were due to be produced before the Puttalam Magistrate’s Court yesterday.