A woman was recently arrested for abandoning her four-year-old girl, who NYPD discovered walking around New York City alone in the middle of the night.
Sidaya, a four-year-old girl who was found wandering alone around New York City, was wearing only a sweater without a jacket in 40-degree weather in the middle of the night.
She had yet to be claimed by family nearly three days after NYPD officers picked her up just after midnight on February 27 at the corner of East 156 Street and Prospect Avenue in the Bronx.
Officials said last Monday, March 1, that they still haven't been able to track down Sidaya's parents or guardians, despite issuing multiple alerts on social media.
They had also released a surveillance video where Sidaya was seen on the street about 10 minutes before officers spotted her in that Sunday's early hours.
In the same video, a thin woman, described in her 20s and standing about 5'2", is seen crossing a street, looking back at the little girl who is trailing her several yards behind. The woman then stops and waits for the girl to catch up with her before exiting the frame together.
It was unclear if the woman knew Sidaya or was simply worried about seeing the child alone outside too late. Thus, NYPD has also asked anyone with details about Sidaya to contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 800-577-TIPS to hasten the search for her guardian.
The NYPD took the girl to NYC Health + Hospitals/Lincoln, where an evaluation showed she is in good physical health and later placed in the care of New York City's Administration for Children's Services as their search for her family continues.
A woman, Sadeekah Abdul Salaam, 32, who is believed to be the same woman in the video, was arrested on Monday, March 1, and charged with neglect of Sidaya, the 4-year-old girl child, and charged with acting in a manner harmful to a child, and reckless endangerment, according to a New York Police spokeswoman.
The girl's relationship with the perpetrator was not immediately apparent. It's also unclear if Salaam has entered a plea or hired an attorney to respond to the allegations, except that she was heading to a homeless shelter to find somewhere to stay before the incident.
All that being said, is this a case of child abandonment?
Yes, this looks like another child abandonment case that has been hot topics in the news lately. A similar incident happened in Ohio last week.
According to the Bronx Daily, Sadeekah lives in Manhattan. In her arraignment, the woman was charged with reckless endangerment, neglect of a child, and acting in a manner harmful to a child by the Bronx Criminal Court. The court then ordered her to be released. Sadeekah remained silent when reporters asked why she abandoned her child.
The woman arrested did not defend herself and requested a lawyer, according to police. Officials claim she won't be able to communicate with her child during her trial.
Yet, the woman arrested was able to tell the Daily Mail photographer, 'I'll talk to you in court, please respect that,' as she was released from handcuffs and walked from the building.
