GUWAHATI: One might say what’s in a name but in suburban Assam, a mix-up of names led to the swapping of a newborn — a case that has finally been decided by the court through DNA testing.
On May 3, 2019, Najma Khanam gave birth to a baby boy at the Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College and Hospital in Barpeta, but as she had to be admitted to the ICU soon after, the newborn was shifted to the child care unit.
The woman’s family members were shocked and crestfallen when, the next day, the hospital authority declared that the infant had died. The family claimed the baby was born healthy and could not have died.
In due course, the family filed a case with the police. During investigation, the police learnt that a male newborn was admitted to the hospital on the same day in a critical condition and that he died soon after. The infant’s mother was one Najma Khatun, who hailed from Kokrajhar district.
The investigating officer filed a petition in a local court in 2020, praying for a DNA test, which was granted by the court. The report of the DNA test, which came after a long wait recently, turned out to be positive. The baby that grew up under Najma Khatun’s care has now been reunited with the biological mother, Najma Khanam, three years later.
The mix-up apparently happened when a nurse swapped the two infants, confused with their mothers’ names, and the dead infant was inadvertently handed over to Najma Khanam’s family.In 2018, a court in Mangaldai in the state had resolved a similar issue. Two babies – one born to a tribal couple and the other to a Muslim couple – got swapped at a hospital by mistake in 2015. As they started growing up, their parents noticed that they looked different from the family members. DNA tests revealed everything in due course and the families in a joint petition filed in the court agreed to exchange the boys.