Desperate to reunite, couple kidnap 4-year-old, arrested

Officers from the Tolichowki division of Hyderabad police along with the rescued four-year-old and the accused couple.

A couple’s ‘misguided’ attempt to win over their respective families by pretending to have a child, set off a frantic 24-hour search after they allegedly abducted a four-year-old girl from Golconda.

The couple thought showing a child as their own would soften the opposition to their reunion, police said.

Mohammed Faiyaz, 24, an auto driver from Hakimpet, and his former wife Salma Begum, also known as Samreen, 22, from Asif Nagar, were arrested for the crime, ACP Tolichowki Syed Fiaz said on Sunday.

On November 21, Nuzath Fatima, 25, of Saleh Nagar Kancha, lodged a complaint stating that her daughter, Safiya Begum, 4, went missing after meeting her grandmother Naseem Begum at her house at 12.30 p.m.

“A search by the family did not yield any result, and a missing case was registered at Golconda Police Station,” said the ACP.

CCTV footage along the route showed a burkha-clad woman leading the child into an auto rickshaw. The vehicle’s number was initially unclear, prompting the formation of nine special teams that combed camera feeds and sought inputs from local informers. The auto was eventually identified, leading to the detention of Faiyaz, and eventually, Salma.

“Faiyaz and Salma had been married for quite some time, but separated after Salma’s abortion. Faiyaz remarried, but the two recently met again and decided to reunite. With Faiyaz’s family opposing the move, they allegedly conspired to kidnap a child and claim her as their own to secure acceptance. Safiya was ‘kidnapped’ from Saleh Nagar Kancha and kept at Salma’s residence until we traced them,” police added.

Police rescued the girl and handed her over to her parents. An auto, two mobile phones and clothes worn by Safiya during the abduction, were seized.