Baby stolen out of womb

2004-06-05 08:10

Bogota - A Colombian baby was stolen right out of an eight-month pregnant mother's womb, after she was drugged by a stranger and given a caesarean section, police and the victim said on Friday.

The baby was returned to the mother after a suspect was arrested, police said.

After a medical visit in central Colombia, the victim said she was approached by a woman who offered clothes for her unborn baby and gave her something to drink.

"I didn't think of anything," the victim said. "I drank it and I felt my eyes getting heavy."

She woke up in a wooded area near the town of Girardot, 150km southwest of Bogota.

"When I touched my stomach it was empty and the baby was not there," the victim said. "But I heard it crying. The last thing I saw, although my vision was blurred, was when she left with the baby covered."

The victim was left bleeding after the caesarean, but she was able to contact police, who found a woman with the baby, police said.

The victim is recovering at a hospital in Girardot with her baby, while the suspect is being interrogated by police to determine her motives.

- AFP