Stolen newborn returned to family

Liu Xianhong kisses her son on Thursday after they were reunited at a hospital in Tongcheng, Hubei province. The boy was stolen from the hospital on Sunday, 30 hours after being born. Police have arrested a suspect, who they say decided to steal a baby because she is infertile. Photo provided to China Daily

Police have recovered a baby allegedly stolen from a hospital in Hubei province and are questioning a suspect.

The incident occurred at Tongcheng People's Hospital on Sunday, a day after the boy was born.

According to Tongcheng county police, the mother and another relative were in the restroom when the female suspect took the child.

The baby and the suspect were discovered in a hotel in nearby Chongyang county at 4 am on Thursday. The baby was unharmed, police said.

After a checkup, the baby was returned to his parents on Thursday morning.

The suspect, Wang Xingyun, is a 35-year-old native of Chongyang, authorities said.

Wang became infertile in 2008 and lied to her lover about her pregnancy, so she decided to steal a baby, police said.

Wang told police she planned to treat him like her own.

"We could understand the motivation of the suspect because she cannot be pregnant," said Hu, a relative of the baby. "But you can't steal a baby, as each baby is the most important thing for every family."

The happy family sent candy to people around the hospital after they learned the baby had been found.

Cai Tianjing, vice-president of the hospital, said the case was the first of its kind in its 65-year history.

The hospital will increase safeguards and require medical workers to inform pregnant women who stay in the hospital to be careful, he said.

In another case that received a lot of media attention, a father in Changchun, Jilin province, left his 2-month-old son wrapped in a pink blanket in an unlocked SUV on March 4. The vehicle was stolen, and the baby was killed and buried in the snow by a suspect after he found the boy in the back seat.