A pair of Russian debt collectors are accused of taking a woman’s baby as collateral after she failed to pay back a loan, state media reported on Monday.

The female debt collectors allegedly abducted the 10-month-old girl on Sunday while demanding money at the mother’s home in a suburb of Russia’s second-largest city, St Petersburg.

“The mother, 40, had failed to pay back the loan because of a lack of funds,’’ a police representative said in comments carried by state news agency TASS.

The report said that the debt collectors later brought the baby to a police station and the child has been returned to the parents.

Report says an investigation is underway. (dpa/NAN)