The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Coimbatore News : Male child rescued from burial ground

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Jul 13, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

Male child rescued from burial ground

Special Correspondent

Abandoned soon after birth `The baby is fine after being treated for mild lacerations'

FROM THE BRINK OF DEATH: The newborn that was abandoned on a burial ground in Coimbatore being treated at Sri Ramakrishna Hospital. — Photo: S. Siva Saravanan

COIMBATORE: A male child, just a few hours old, was found abandoned on a burial ground near Ondipudur in the city on Tuesday.

On being informed by the public that the child was lying in thick, thorny bushes, Childline, the phone-in rescue system for children in distress, rushed to the spot and took the child to Sri Ramakrishna Hospital for treatment.

Chief Paediatrician of the hospital, A.K. Jaleel, said the baby was fine after being treated for mild lacerations caused by the bushes.

Deformity of brain

It was suspected that the child might have been abandoned as it had deformity of the brain. A scan done on the child at the hospital after it was rescued confirmed the congenital defect.

"We did a scan on the child to check whether it had any bleeding in the brain that may have been caused while it was thrown into the bushes," Dr. Jaleel said. Though no bleeding was detected, the scan revealed the problem in the brain. It was possible that the parents might have come to know of the defect earlier and abandoned the child.

Under observation

The hospital was taking care of the child who was under observation in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, he said.

Sources in Childline said that around 7.30 a.m. people heard the child crying. They found that it was a newborn - without even its umbilical cord severed. They removed the child from the bushes and cleaned it. They informed Childline an hour later. Its staff then took the baby to the hospital.

Childline sources said they would wait for some days for the parents to claim the child. If none turned up, it would be rehabilitated at a home for orphans and runaway children.

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