Chennai: A 3-year-old boy clad in his school uniform, who had been left alone, went missing when his mother was busy consulting an endocrinologist in the Stanley Medical College Hospital on Wednesday. It is still unclear whether the boy was lost or was taken by someone.
The missing boy has been identified as Asif who had accompanied his mother, Husaina Banu (33), who went to the hospital for a thyroid ailment.
After taking the 'Outpatient Slip', Husaina Banu went to the first floor in Thyroid Ward where she waited in the serpentine queue for her turn. When her turn for consultation came, she left the boy outside by himself so as to help the doctor examine her without any hindrance. When she came out after the consultation, Asif was nowhere to be found.
A woman patient waiting in the queue claimed that she saw the boy leaving the corridor with another woman. After a frantic search in the hospital premises, Husaina informed her husband who also rushed to the hospital and joined her. The family lodged a complaint with the Washermenpet Police.
Cops checked the CCTV footage, which showed the woman entering the hospital with her son. However, the footage was not helpful identifying the boy leaving the hospital.
There was no CCTV installed in the first floor corridor of Thyroid Block from where the boy went 'missing'.
Hospital sources said that there were about 100 surveillance cameras installed covering the entries and exits, and about 50-private-guards ensuring the safety of the visitors and patients. "We would extend full cooperation for investigation. We would also carry out an internal probe to find out any security lapse and act on it based on the outcome of the probe," a hospital official said.
