Daughter after 35 yrs, farmer brings her home in a chopper

Rajasthan is usually associated with cases of female infanticide. But, in a happy turn of events, a farmer celebrated the birth of his baby daughter, who was born in the family af ter 35 years, by bringing her home in a helicopter.

The farmer, Hanuman Prajapat, is a resident of Nimbdi Chandawata village in Nagaur district, which lies 200 km north of Jaipur. He hired the helicopter from a private company at a cost of Rs4.5 lakh. He also prepared a helipad in his farm for the chopper to land.

His wife gave birth to the baby girl named Siddhi on February 2 at her parents' village Harsolav, at a distance of 30 km from Nimbdi. When it was time to take the baby home, her father hired a helicopter.

Hanuman left along with his cousins at 9 am by chopper to bring his daughter home. After some rituals and prayers, Hanuman, his wife Chuka Devi, baby daughter and cousins left Harsolav around 1.30 pm and reached Nimbdi village by 2.15 pm.

When they landed in Nimbdi village, the route from the helipad to their home was strewn with flowers and a band was in attendance to welcome the baby girl. Prayers and rituals were held at the Prajapat home and the family also organised a party for family and friends. Hanuman said since Wednesday was the 9th day of Navratra on which goddess Siddhidatri is worshipped, he had named daughter Siddhi. Expressing happiness on arrival of granddaughter, Madanlal Prajapat said, “Daughters are still unwanted in our society and there are still families which don’t celebrate the birth of a girl child. I had decided long back that if a girl is born in our family, we will celebrate her birth and bring her home by helicopter. Hope it will inspire others to celebrate the birth of a daughter.”