Mom gone forever, but dad won’t claim her

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, December 4

The wait of a 17-day-old newborn for her father continues. She was left at Kalpana Chawla Government Medical College Hospital (KCGMCH) after the death of her mother during childbirth.

Staff members at the hospital had been taking care of the newborn, who was admitted in a serious condition. Doctors said she was fine now and under observation.

Raj Kumari, hailing from Chhattisgarh, had been living with her husband at Gharaunda in Karnal district. She was admitted to the KCGMCH on November 17.

After the delivery,Raj Kumari’s healthcondition deteriorated and she was referred to thePGI in Rohtak, saidDr Yogesh Sharma,Deputy Medical Superintendent of the KCGMCH.

She died on the way while her daughter was kept in the sick neonatal care unit in the hospital, he added. Raj Kumari’s husband came after three or four days and left, but did not return, he further said.

After some days, the hospital authorities informed the district child protection officer and the police so that the girl’s father could be traced, he said. There was no reply on the telephone number on the admission card, he said.

When contacted, protection officer for institutional care Suman Nain said they had approached the infant’s father Raj Kumar several times over the telephone, but he was not showing the will to accept his daughter.

“We will wait for him for a few more days, after which she will be shifted to the child care centre,” she added. If anybody wanted to adopt her, it could be done legally, she said. “We have approached the police to lodge an FIR against her father,” she added.