Jharkhand sees troubling trend of babies in dump

Welfare department officials found that every month, 'one or two babies abandoned mostly by unwed mothers'

bandoned infants are being found, dead or alive, with alarming regularity in the Jharkhand capital and child protection officials don’t seem to know how to stem the disturbing pattern.

Between June and December this year, 10 newborns were reportedly found along roads, in garbage vats or in drains and activists believe this is only a conservative estimate. While abandoning the girl child is quite common in the state, many of the infants are boys and hence, perhaps born out of wedlock.

The latest rescue took place on Saturday when members of social outfit Rebels Club heard cries of a baby at Idris Colony in Kantatoli under Lower Bazaar thana.

“It must have been around 7pm. We traced the cries to a gunny bag near an apartment. Inside it was a baby boy, barely hours old. He hadn’t even been cleaned properly. We quickly arranged for clothes to protect him from the cold and informed police,” said Arzoo Khan, a member of the club who runs a garage in the area.

A police control room van took the newborn to Ranchi Sadar Hospital while district child welfare committee officials were informed.

“We believe the mother is a local resident. However, CCTV camera footage didn’t help us identify her because it was too dark near the spot,” Khan said.

Ranchi civil surgeon Vijay Bihari Prasad said the baby was stable. “He is alright and under observation of a good doctor. We are in touch with the child panel.”

District child welfare committee chairperson Rupa Kumari confirmed that the newborn was in their protective custody. “According to rules, we will wait for her biological mother to come to us with proper documents. If she doesn’t turn up within two months, the baby will be up for adoption,” she said.

This is the second abandoned baby found here this month. A week ago, police had recovered the body of a newborn girl at Parastoli under Doranda thana. The baby was in a carton floating in a high drain.

Insiders in the district welfare department conceded that every month, they rescued “one or two babies abandoned mostly by unwed mothers”.

Child protection officer Sevak Ram said for the safety and security of such children, the district welfare department had a couple of months ago placed nine cribs outside state-run RIMS and sadar hospital, and primary health centres in Kanke, Ormanjhi, Namkum, Angara, Ratu, Mandar and Chanho.

“We even displayed our contact numbers and promised to protect the identity of parents/callers, but people continue to abandon babies wherever they want and however they like,” Ram said, adding that they planned to place more cribs at public places like parks and temples.

Gaurav Poddar, a law student who had saved a baby found near JMM patriarch Shibu Soren’s Morabadi residence in June, said the cruelty of dumping helpless infants in garbage dumps or drains was unforgivable.

“It is a crime against children and is punishable under the law. It is gross violation of human rights. Police and child protection officials must act now,” he said.

Parents abandoning any child below 12 years can be sentenced up to seven years in jail or fined or both under Section 317 of the IPC. It is, however, a bailable offence.

.