At around 4am on Thursday, 47-year-old Sudha Vasan, a resident of Ramaiah Layout in Bengaluru woke up to a crying sound.
Sudha, assuming it was a cat, went back to sleep. A few minutes later, she heard the sound once more, but this time it was muffled. Sudha once again went back to sleep. It was an hour later that she realised that the sound was that of a baby crying.
Sudha and her 22-year-old son Sreejith picked up the emergency lamp in their house and rushed outside.
“There were no street lights on and the power was also off. It was dark outside so I took the emergency lamp and ran outside. That’s when I saw something wrapped in a plastic cover and again in a thin baby towel. A baby had been left at my doorstep and it was crying loudly,” Sudha says.
She immediately called her neighbours for help and called the Banaswadi Police informing them about the incident.
“The baby was not at all visible and was wrapped in the plastic cover completely and again with a thin towel. I removed the baby from the plastic bag. It was a new born girl. It was unbelievable. The baby's cord was not cut and it had not even been wiped bathed or wiped clean. I wrapped her in one of my own clothes,” Sudha said.
By then, the Banaswadi Police had arrived and the baby was taken to Zion Hospital, located near Sudha’s house.
The hospital, however, said that they did not have facilities to treat the baby.
The baby girl was then taken to Ovum Hospital.
“The doctors said that the baby’s heartbeat was fine and that she was feeling very cold. They transferred the baby to an incubator with a heater on to warm it up. The doctors then said she was going to be okay,” Sudha added.
At around 8.30 am Sudha registered an FIR with the Banaswadi police.
“The doctors said that the baby had probably been born only two hours before she was found. The Child Protection Commission has been informed and after the case is put forth before the magistrate, the baby will be transferred to Shishu Vihar near NIMHANS hospital. A case has been registered under section 317 (abandoning a child under the age of 12 years),” Banasawadi police told TNM.
