Abandoned, dead baby girl found near LD

Srinagar, Jan 14: A lifeless new-born baby girl was found abandoned in a carton on Monday morning, roughly 300 metres away from Lal Ded, the tertiary care maternity hospital here.

Police officials said they were informed about the dead baby being left in the box near ‘Town Square’, a shopping mall right next to the Gogji Bagh intersection.

Photos of the dead baby wrapped in a blue draw sheet and placed in a brown carton were circulated online. “The incident came to our knowledge when we received a call from police control room that they have found a dead baby on the Gogji Bagh road in a brown carton box,” Station Head Officer, Raj Bagh police station, Ayaz Gillani told The Kashmir Monitor:

Ayaz said that the baby might have been abandoned in the night hours and was spotted in the morning.

He said that they have registered a case. “We have registered an FIR and will proceed with the investigation after completing all the legal formalities,” the officer said.

The body of the abandoned baby is lying with the police control room here.

It was not immediately known whether the infant was born dead or died of Hypothermia given the sub-zero temperatures during the intervening night of Sunday and Monday.

Deputy Medical Superintendent, LD hospital, Dr Farah Shafi told The Kashmir Monitor that they “don’t have any knowledge of such incident”. “We came to know about the baby through social media…if it would have been found in the hospital premises, we could have owned it,” she said adding:

“We don’t even know whether the baby was born in this hospital or somewhere else.”

Abandoning babies has come up as a grave social and moral issue in Kashmir.

During 2018, at least seven abandoned babies were found inside the LD hospital premises alone.

Reacting to Monday’s incident, Srinagar Mayor, Junaid Azim Mattu tweeted: “Incidents like these makes you lose your faith in humanity. Was informed by the Police authorities that the newborn baby was found dead. For all our moralistic trolling and hyperventilation — time to introspect and wonder how we got here. SHAMEFUL! God help us!”

Former J&K CM, Mehbooba Mufti too had her say on it on Twitter: “Spoke to the superintendent of Lal Ded about this new born baby girl found outside the hospital, nothing can be more cold blooded and heartbreaking than this . Crime this heinous makes our heads hang in shame.”

On January 1, a new-born male baby was rescued by locals when his father tried to bury him alive in a graveyard in Nowhatta here.
The baby, according to the hospital officials, was born with a congenital disorder.

The baby was shifted to the G B Pant hospital where he was put on the ventilator.

Medical Superintendent, G B Pant Hospital, Dr Kanwarjit Singh said that the baby has been put off the ventilator as there has been slight improvement in his condition.