HYDERABAD: In an incident that has shocked the city, bloated body of a newborn girl with umbilical cord still intact was found floating in a nala at Ashok Nagar on Sunday afternoon. Chikadpally police have preserved the body at Gandhi Hospital mortuary as there were no immediate clues available to trace her parents. Police suspect the infant was 4-5 days old.
The body was first spotted by a passerby who alerted the cops, who retrieved it with the help of NGO workers. “We will contact nursing homes and hospitals to get a list of women who delivered a girl in the past four days and inquire with them,” says sub inspector N Surya. Usually, doctors cut and clamp about 10-cm of the umbilical cord and it stays intact for two to three days. Since the cord was intact, cops suspect the child is only 4 days old. Officials are planning to preserve the bone marrow samples to cross match with anyone they suspect to be the child’s mother. Authorities did not find any hospital tag on the girl’s wrist.
“It took around two hours to retrieve the body as there was neck-level water and sludge in the nala,” said NGO worker Srinivas. The government has clearly announced that those who do not want to keep their babies can hand them over to a special adoption agency in Yosufguda. The death of the infant, despite such measures, has left authorities puzzled. “Within 24-hours of taking the baby, couples are counselled before Child Welfare Committee. They are asked about problems they have and we try to resolve them,” said Imtiyaz Rahim, Hyderabad district child protection officer.
“Despite counselling, if the parents are not ready to keep the baby, they have to write on a bond paper that they want to give the baby for adoption. Thereafter, we wait for 15 to 30 days hoping the couple will change their mind. If they do not, we produce all documents before the committee who declare the child as legally free to adopt,” he added. Thereafter, details of the infants who are legally free for adoption are uploaded in Central Adoption Rescue Authority’s website cara.nic.in.