A Mumbai court granted bail to a woman accused in a 2013 kidnapping case, stressing that her 7-year-old daughter deserves the love and care of her mother. The judge noted the accused has been in jail for three years without trial progress.
Mumbai: On Aug 17, A Mumbai court granted bail to a woman who was arrested for allegedly kidnapping a 7-year-old girl back in 2013. The court said that a young child should not be denied the love and care of her natural guardian.
The woman, who is now out on bail, is herself the mother of a seven-year-old daughter. Since her arrest in 2022, the child has been living in a children’s home in Andheri, Mumbai.
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Additional Sessions Judge S M Takalikar of the Dindoshi court noted in his order last week that the child had not met her parents for the last three years.
The judge said,
“The warmth of the natural guardian would not be denied to the child of 7 years.”
The court also pointed out that the accused had been kept away from her daughter as she has been in jail for three years, without any progress in her trial.
The order mentioned,
“No doubt she is admitted in the Bal Bhavan, which is taking care of her and extending protection.”
But the judge underlined that the mother-child bond was important and could not be ignored.
According to the prosecution, the case dates back to January 22, 2013, when the victim’s mother lodged a missing report at DN Nagar police station after her 7-year-old daughter failed to return from school. For almost a decade, the girl remained untraceable.
It was only on August 3, 2022, when a neighbour received a video call from a woman showing a girl resembling the missing child, that the case took a turn.
The neighbour identified her as the victim, leading her mother to the location where her daughter was finally found.
In her statement to the police, the victim narrated her ordeal. She alleged that in 2013, the two accused lured her away by promising to buy her ice cream.
They first took her to Goa, where she was kept for several months. Later, they shifted to Vile Parle in Mumbai, rented a house, and stayed there for four months before returning to Goa again.
She further claimed that the accused later admitted her to a school in Karnataka and kept her there for about a year.
In 2015, they returned to Mumbai and continued living in the city. During this time, the victim alleged that she was confined inside their home, forced to do all the household chores, and even made to work as a babysitter.
The accused allegedly collected the money she earned. She also told the police that she was subjected to both physical and mental harassment by the accused couple.
The accused woman’s lawyer, advocate Nitin Hajare, who represented her through the legal aid NGO Dard se Hamdard Tak, argued that though the chargesheet was filed in 2022 and charges were framed on January 24, 2024, not even a single witness has been examined yet.
He also pointed out that on April 24, 2025, the police themselves filed a report stating that the victim was not traceable.
Highlighting the family angle, the lawyer stressed that the accused woman’s own daughter had been living in an orphanage for three years and was in need of her mother’s care.
After hearing both sides, the court considered the fact that the accused had been in custody since August 5, 2022, and the trial had not moved forward in three years.
While acknowledging that the offence was serious, the judge accepted the defence’s argument about the welfare of the child. The court concluded that it was “just and proper” to grant bail to the accused.
The accused woman’s husband, who is also a co-accused in the kidnapping case, continues to remain in jail.
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