The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : Cradle of hope for abandoned infant

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 29, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Cradle of hope for abandoned infant

By Marri Ramu

HYDERABAD, NOV. 28. A couple dumped her in a dustbin, but a caring elderly woman took her into her lap.

However, future of this newborn baby girl, saved by the woman after finding it abandoned in a litter bin at LCH Colony of Saidabad on Saturday, hangs in balance.

Sixty-four-year-old retired Government employee M.V. Sushila, who saved the infant from certain death by bringing it home, wants to adopt the child. However, official procedure requiring surrender of the child to Sishu Vihar, the Government home looking after abandoned infants, is coming in the way of adoption of the unnamed infant.

With the hospital clip still attached to her navel, the girl was found crying in the bin around 6 a.m. An MCH worker cleaning the road was about to pull out the garbage with an iron rod when he heard the cries.

"I was offering prayers and heard the din," Mrs. Sushila recalled. "I saw the baby wrapped in a cloth. And there were some women collecting drinking water from the local tap. I was appalled and sent my maid to bring home the baby. The moment I took her into my lap, I thought I should adopt her," she said. Locals thronged her house till late in the night to have a dekko at the baby. A worried Mrs. Sushila asked them to take away the child, if anyone wanted, but requested them not to disturb it. "By then, deep in my heart, I have realised I cannot stay away from the child," she said.

On the advise of neighbours, she alerted the Saidabad police who registered a case under Section 319 (abandonment of child) of Indian Penal Code.

Mrs. Sushila, former Head Nurse, Nizamia Unani Hospital, has two daughters and a son. All of them are married. Both her daughters are childless. "Anyone of them will love to bring up the child," Mrs. Sushila said.

She, however, was sceptical of keeping the child, saying the police told her that a lengthy legal procedure had to be followed for child's adoption. The baby was running mild temperature on Sunday.

"Whatever be the consequences, I'll take care of the child till the police ask me to surrender it," Mrs. Sushila said.The Malakpet Assistant Commissioner of Police, S. Vishwanatham, made it clear that the child would be handed over to the Sishu Vihar in a day or two. "There is a procedure established by law for adopting the child and everyone has to follow it," he said.

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