A newborn baby girl was found from the playground of Krushnadaspur High School under Balikuda police limits on Tuesday morning. She has been admitted to district headquarters hospital.
The baby was first noticed by school teacher Malaya Kumar Lenka who informed the Medical Officer of Balikuda hospital Ajaya Swain. After preliminary check-up, she was shifted to Jagatsinghpur hospital. “The baby was just three-hour-old when she was found. She was dehydrated and had a hastily severed umbilical cord,” Swain said. As the umbilical cord was cut and tied with a thread, it implies that the baby was not born in a hospital, he added.
The district administration has, meanwhile, urged Cuttack-based Child Helpline for taking care of the baby. Member of District Child Welfare Committee Tilotama Das said this is not for the first time that a newborn was found abandoned in the district. In February, a newborn was found in a straw heap at Bahakana village of Kusupur panchayat under Balikuda police limits. A passerby heard the baby crying and informed the police. Police rescued her and after a check-up at Balikuda hospital, handed her over to a Kendrapara-based social organisation.
In October last year, a newborn boy was found near the culvert adjacent to the Mahanadi river embankment at Biribandha village. A Muslim couple have been raising the child. “Nearly 20 abandoned newborns have been found in the last one year,” Das said.