crime
18-year-old kidnaps baby from Hamburg clinic
The police have started an investigation into suspected child abduction. photo
© Klaus-Dietmar Gabbert/dpa
Horrible hours for the parents of a five-week-old baby: an 18-year-old unknown to them kidnapped the girl from a Hamburg clinic for two hours. Why did she do that?
An 18-year-old took another woman’s five-week-old baby from a clinic in Hamburg-Heimfeld was kidnapped and only brought back two hours later. The little girl was not externally injured and remained under observation overnight, said a police spokesman in Hamburg on Tuesday.
Previously, the 18-year-old is said to have lured the child’s mother out of the hospital room and away from the baby on Monday evening by presenting false facts. When she returned to the room a little later, her child was gone.
It was initially unclear why the young woman took the infant with her. This is now the subject of the investigation. However, it is already clear that, according to the police, the teenager was in an exceptional psychological state at the time of the crime. The police initially searched for the woman and the infant with more than two dozen patrol cars.
No connection between kidnapper and parents
The 18-year-old was temporarily arrested after she returned to the hospital with the unharmed child after the kidnapping. She has now been admitted to a psychiatric clinic by a medical officer. There is no connection between the 18-year-old and the infant’s parents. “They are not related or friends. They don’t know each other,” the spokesman continued. The child’s parents were cared for by the crisis intervention team.
It remained unclear how the teenager gained access to the Mariahilf Clinic. “We are very happy that the child is safe and sound and, according to initial findings, undamaged and is being looked after by us there together with the mother,” said a spokeswoman for the clinic when asked on Tuesday.
She also thanked the employees and the police forces for their calm behavior. “We are working intensively internally to understand the background to this incident.”
The police have started an investigation into suspected child abduction. As a result of the incident, a dispute broke out between around 40 members of the 18-year-old’s family and her parents in front of the Mariahilf Clinic. “There was a threat of a confrontation. But we had enough police on site and were able to prevent it,” the spokesman continued.