Hindustan Times (Amritsar)

7dayold abandoned Jalandhar girl rescued

RAY OF HOPE Infant undergoing treatment; cops tracing parents

- Jatinder Mahal jatinder@htlive.com ■

JALANDHAR: A seven-day-old girl was found abandoned in bushes at Kalia colony on Saturday and was rescued by a passerby Nitin Chadda.

Chadda informed the police, who took the girl to the civil hospital. He told the police that he heard the noise of a baby crying and found the naked baby girl lying in the bushes.

Assistant sub-inspector Satnam Singh said the girl is undergoing treatment and is safe. Police are investigat­ing the case to trace her parents.

THIRD INCIDENT IN TWO MONTHS

On July 10, a newborn girl was found in the fields near RurkaKhura­d village in Goraya. The police, later, arrested her unmarried parents, Jasbir Kaur, 21, of Rurka-Khurad village and her ‘lover’ Deepa Malhi, 22, of Atta village.

On September 2, an abandoned newborn was found dead in the toilet of Shahkot’s civil hospital.The police are yet to get any lead in this case.

A social worker, Surinder Kumar, said there are two shelter homes in Jalandhar but most of the people are unaware. “Lack of education, poverty and unwanted pregnancy are the main reasons why babies are abandoned,” he said.

Twenty children, mostly female, were adopted by people across the world from Unique Home and Nari Niketan, Jalandhar, this year.Deputy commission­er Varinder Kumar Sharma said, “We will create more awareness among people by placing hoardings in government institutes, especially in hospitals.”

PANGURA SCHEME

There are two shelter homes under the Pangura scheme in Jalandhar — Nari Niketan and Unique Home, which are run with the support of district administra­tion.

Activist at Unique Home, Gurpreet Singh said, they have not received any baby for past oneand-a-half year. Meanwhile, over five such cases were reported in Jalandhar and its surroundin­g areas in this span.

“Awareness can be created among people about this scheme, which is a providenti­al support for parents who do not want to or unable to raise a child,” he said.

In both the shelter homes, a cradle has been placed alongside the front wall, in which people can leave their child and keep their identity secret.

 ??  ?? The infant undergoing treatment at the civil hospital in Jalandhar. HT PHOTO
The infant undergoing treatment at the civil hospital in Jalandhar. HT PHOTO

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