A 33-year-old second hand clothes dealer has been arrested by the Madina Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police for stealing a ten-month-old baby boy. The suspect, Lydia Mensah, aka Esi Tawiah, committed the act on Wednesday August 25, 2010, at the Madina Market where she posed as a trader. She was consequently arrested at arrested on August 28, 2010, by the Aflao Police when she attempted to escape with the child to Togo. Briefing DAILY GUIDE, the commander in charge of the Madina Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, ASP Christine Srofenyoh, indicated that the mother of the baby, Madam Leticia Nkoom reported the matter to the police in the afternoon of Wednesday August 25, 2010. She noted that the mother left the child in the care of a nine-year-old boy at the Madina market to sell her wares (Detol) as she often did. “When the mother of the child returned in the afternoon to breastfeed the child, she was told that Madam Lydia, the second hand clothes dealer whom she the mother engaged in a chat that morning had come for the child,” the police noted. ASP Srofenyoh said after all attempts to locate the child failed, Madam Nkoom then reported the matter to the police. “Our information van went round to announce about the missing child but all to no avail,” the ASP noted. The Madina DOVVSU Commander stated that announcements were also made on some local radio stations about the missing child that same day. She continued that on Saturday August 28, 2010, the Madina DOVVSU received a phone call from Aflao in the Volta Region that a woman had been arrested trying to transport a ten-month-old child whom the police believed was a stolen baby. “When Madina DOVVSU personnel got to Aflao that Saturday with the mother, the child was then identified and the suspect was transported to Accra with the child for trial.” Meanwhile, the traumatized mother of the baby, Madam Leticia Nkoom, who also narrated the story to the paper, disclosed that on the day of the incident, when she took her child to the caretaker under a shed at the market, she met suspect Lydia Mensah there with other children. “As I sat to breastfeed the baby, the suspect engaged in a chat with me, though I did not know her, she complained to me that trading was very slow. “I engaged her in a chat for a while before leaving to sell my items,” she added. Upon Leticia’s return in the afternoon to breastfeed the child, the caretaker, also a son of a trader friend in the market, told her that the suspect had taken the child to a nearby shed. Madam Nkoom said she combed the whole of Madina Market but could not find the child and so reported the matter to the Madina DOVVSU. By Linda Tenyah/Daily Guide/Ghana