Panic has gripped traders at the Asafo Market in Kumasi after a five-month-old baby boy was allegedly stolen by an unidentified woman in the early hours of Sunday.
The incident reportedly occurred at the Cape Coast Bus Terminal section of the market, specifically at the Opera Site, on Sunday, September 20.
According to family members, the suspect, described as a short, dark-skinned woman believed to be in her late 30s, fled the area with the child, leaving the parents traumatised.
Speaking to journalists, the child’s uncle, Osei Kuffour, said the baby’s mother, 25-year-old Freda Owusu, is a food vendor at the market and had reported for work at dawn with the child.
He explained that at about 5:00 a.m., while preparing food for sale, Madam Owusu left the baby sleeping on a bedsheet in the care of her sister, who was nearby attending to some errands.
However, when she returned a short while later, she discovered that both the baby and an unidentified woman who had been sitting near their store were missing.
“The mother is a food vendor and was preparing food around 5 a.m. The child was sleeping, so she left him in front of the store, just at the very place she was working.
“The suspect is a woman we don’t know in the area; she was sitting close to the store. The mother turned to get something but returned to find both the baby and the woman gone,” Mr Kuffour recounted.
He said the woman is not known to traders at the busy market and was only seen standing near their workplace around the time the child disappeared.
Mr Kuffour said the baby’s mother and her husband, Emmanuel Acheampong, have since lodged a complaint at the Asokwa Police Station.
The police have launched investigations and are working to trace the suspect and recover the child.
Anyone with information on the whereabouts of the baby is urged to report to the nearest police station.