Doctors charged with theft of baby
From Our Correspondent

JALANDHAR, Dec 27 — The Jalandhar police said today that it had investigated a controversy related to the theft of a new-born baby from a private hospital in Phillaur. A case had been registered against Dr Jaswinder Singh Bath and Dr Gurbir Kaur Bath regarding this.

Mr Gaurav Yadav, SSP, said here today that Ramesh Lal of Atta village had sent a written complaint to the Deputy Commissioner, Mr Som Prakash, and the then SSP, Mr P.S. Gill. In the complaint he alleged that his wife, Ms Surinder Kaur, had got admitted at Jyoti Nursing Home, Phillaur on November 23 as she was pregnant and gave birth to a male child on the same day. But the doctors accused did not hand over the child. Instead, they told his wife that she had given birth to a dead baby and they had buried him.

But immediately after the delivery one of the staff members, Ms Surinder Kaur, claimed, had congratulated her. Despite her repeated pleas the doctors refused to hand over the baby. She left the nursing home on November 25.

The couple tried to contact the sarpanch but failed to do so as he was busy in Adampur byelections. On learning about the incident the sarpanch along with a few panchayat members and Mr Ramesh Lal went to Jyoti Nursing Home on November 30. They asked Dr Jaswinder Singh Bath about the case who told them that Ms Surinder had delivered a dead male baby as the head was not fully formed.

The sarpanch and the panchayat members got suspicious and questioned the doctors, who admitted that Ms Surinder Kaur had given birth to a male baby. They had given the baby to somebody and would try to locate the baby, failing which a monetary compromise could be sorted out. The members claimed that they met the DSP, Phillaur, and demanded legal action against the doctors.

The doctors said that Ms Surinder Kaur did not want the baby and had left the baby at the nursing home without informing them. She had also expressed her desire that her baby be given away for adoption. But they had refused saying that without her husband's consent and meeting other legal formalities, this could not be done.

When Ms Surinder Kaur had left the nursing home on November 25 leaving the baby behind, they had tried to contact her at her village, but she refused to come. On December 4 they had informed the SDM through a written complaint.

The baby was finally handed over to the parents on December 6 at Phillaur by the doctors in the presence of panchayat members and the local police.

The joint inquiry report has also come to the conclusion that the baby was in the wrongful confinement of the doctors as they have not been able to explain why they did not inform the local authorities about the case, especially when the baby was in their possession. The tampering of the nursing home's records and contradictions in the statements made by the doctors and their staff members point out that this was done with some wrong intention.