The love story which made the couple kidnappers, now behind bars

Mother of two eloped with her lover and settled down in Bengaluru After two years, the couple wanted to go back to family but needed proof for their marriage They planned to steal a child to show their families, relatives They stole a baby at Tirulama temple premises Parents of the child filed complaint, intensified search, couple surrendered

A couple who had stolen a nine-month-old baby from Tirupati temple surrendered before the police as they could not hide anymore with the search intensified and their photos being circulated in the social media.

A child sleeping next to its parents inside the Venkateshwara temple mantap was stolen on June 14. The child’s father Venkatesh filed a police complaint and pressed for an immediate probe.

The CCTV footage provided primary visual details about the couple who stole the baby. The couple who stole the baby have been identified as Ashok, 24, and Thankayee, 24, have surrendered before the Rasipuram Police Station.

Thankayee was married to Periyasamy and is a mother of two. But she fell in love with Ashok, and the eloped with him two years ago. They settled down in Bengaluru. But they decided to go back to their families and say that they were married. However, they needed a proof of their marriage so, planned to steal a child.

As there is a huge crowd in the Tirupati temple, they took a room there, went in as devotees and when they found Venkatesh and wife taking rest with their child they waited for the right moment. When the couple fell asleep, Thankayee took the child and went out of the temple.

They returned to the village, but by then a complaint about missing child was filed. Ashok and Thankayee’s photos were being circulated on Facebook and WhatsApp. Apart from this, the police also checked the whereabouts of the people who had taken rooms at Tirumala, which has around 6,000 rooms. They checked the details of nearly 14,000 people with the help of Aadhaar card.

With this, Ashok and Thankayee were sure that they cannot evade arrest for long and decided to surrender before the police.  The child has been handed over to the parents.

* The banner photo is of the parents after getting their child back from the accused.