Alleged child abductor held by police

A woman who allegedly attempted to abduct a child at Shanghai Railway Station earlier this week is in police custody.

The incident took place at 5:45pm on Tuesday outside a KFC restaurant near the southeast exit of the railway station, railway police said on Friday.

The woman surnamed Chen, who was pushing a stroller, was said to have picked up and held a little girl who was standing with her mother and grandmother. The two women quickly grabbed the 2-year-old child back from Chen and immediately summoned help. The incident was captured by surveillance cameras.

Police soon arrived at the scene and took the suspect to a nearby station for questioning.

Chen, 40, who is from Sichuan Province and works on a construction site in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province, confessed that she intended to abduct the girl, police said.

She said she has a 20-year-old son from her previous marriage and now wants a child with her new boyfriend, but has been unable to conceive, according to police.

She also explained that she borrowed the stroller from a relative in Shanghai, whom she was visiting, for her luggage.

Chen is under detention and could face criminal charges of children abduction.