A two-month-old male baby was abandoned by a woman, suspected to be the mother, at an autorickshaw stand on Wall Tax Road, here on Thursday morning.
Police said a burqa-clad woman in her twenties approached Muthu (60), an auto driver, at the stand behind the Flower Bazaar Police Station, around 6 am.
She requested the driver to take care of the baby till she brought her aged parents there by walk.
Convinced by her story, Muthu and other drivers took the baby under their care and kept waiting for the woman.
As hours passed by, the auto-rickshaw driver suspected something fishy and took the baby to the Flower Bazaar Police Station.
The information was passed on to Flower Bazaar Assistant Commissioner of Police N Kumar. The police bought new clothes for the baby and fed him with milk. However, their search for the baby’s supposed mother did not yield any result.
Since the police were not trained to handle babies, they sought the assistance of the child helpline. Subsequently, Don Bosco Anbu Illam, a children’s home on Wall Tax Road, took the baby under their care after completing the formalities. The baby will be produced before the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) on Friday.
S Manoj Moses, Chennai Child Help Line Coordinator, Don Bosco Anbu Illam, told Express that the baby is under the care of the Saranalaya Home for Girls in Kodungaiyur.
“The baby will be kept there till morning and sent to the government home at Kellys. He will be produced before the CWC on Friday. The CWC will pass orders for the baby to be sent to an adoption agency which is approved by the State Government and recognised by the Social Defence Directorate,” he said.
“Several couples who cannot raise their newborns due to financial issues abandon their babies in this manner,” he added.