KOZHIKODE: For months, a 35-year-old mother lived in unbearable agony, carrying a quiet anguish that nearly shattered her. On March 12, just days after giving birth at a local government hospital, overwhelming helplessness, on being abandoned by the child’s father, drove her to leave her newborn in the Ammathottil electronic cradle at the Kozhikode Government General Hospital. Driven by fear and confusion, she walked away into the night, believing she had made a final decision.
However, the silence at home only amplified her heartbreak. In the weeks that followed, her eldest, a 10th-grade student, repeatedly enquired about his baby brother. His innocent questions pierced her soul, fuelling a mother’s profound grief and resolve. “I realised I could never live with myself if I didn’t try to get my baby back,” the mother said.
Driven by maternal resolve, she approached the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) 48 days later to reclaim her infant. What followed was a gruelling four-month struggle against legal hurdles and the bureaucracy. Vellayil police initiated an investigation, which led to a DNA test recommendation at the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB) in Thiruvananthapuram.
However, controversy erupted when officials demanded `25,000 for the test -- a sum the mother could not afford. “When they sought money I didn’t have, I thought all hope was lost,” she expressed. Relief finally came when minister Bindhu Krishna intervened, ensuring the state covered the entire testing cost.
When the DNA test officially confirmed her motherhood on Thursday, the relief was overwhelming. Following home visits, parental care guidance and counselling sessions conducted by the Kozhikode child protection officer and her team, officials confirmed the mother was ready to be reunited with her child. To shield her family from public scrutiny and social stigma, she relocated to a rented house in a new neighbourhood.
Holding her older son close as she prepares to finally embrace her baby boy once again, her heart is filled with quiet hope. “I made a mistake out of fear, but now that nightmare is over,” she shared.