Baby girl left in cradle in city

Tribune News Service

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Bathinda, January 28

A baby girl was found in the “panghura” (cradle) at Mahant Gurbanta Dass Deaf and Dumb School on Goniana Road in Bathinda on Tuesday night. With this, the number of children left in the cradle reached 29 since its inception. A team of doctors said the infant was healthy. The age of the infant is around a week.

Earlier, a month ago, a two-day boy was left in the cradle.

The doctors had to operate on him as the anus was missing in the child. The Bathinda Red Cross Society had born the cost of the tratment.

With an aim to save infants from being left at odd places, the “phangura” was introduced on January 1, 2008. Cradles were installed in front of the Red Cross Society buildings in Amritsar, Bathinda and Ludhiana. In Bathinda, the cradle was installed on February 28, 2009.

Any person can leave an infant in the cradle and ring the bell so that an attendant comes out to receive the child. The identity of parents or the single mother is not asked and the new arrival is taken to the nearest hospital for a medical examination and provided required feed and medical aid. Later, the infant is sent to the licenced adoption agencies in the state from where the infant can be adopted.

Doctor Satish Jindal, a paediatrician, said, “After keeping the baby girl under observation, she was handed over to the District Red Cross Society. The infant is in good health.”