Five months on, abandoned girl doing fine

We are taking good care of her and she is in good health, said the Ministry of Social Development under whose care the girl abandoned five months ago is living

MUSCAT: Dana, the Buraimi girl, who was abandoned by her mother five months ago, is in perfect health and under the care of the Ministry of Social Development (MOSD).

The ministry has confirmed that Dana is still in care and doing well. She is one of a number of young children being given new lives by the government. Some of them are as young as one day old.

Though no further details were given they simply said that Dana was doing well and under the ministry’s care while an investigation by security authorities is still on.

“We are taking good care of her and she is in good health,” said MOSD.

“However, she is not the only girl at the centre, we have (oth- er) children who have also been abandoned; some are as young as one day-old,” said MOSD.

Five months ago, Dana’s mother, who is of GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council) nationality, entered the Sultanate with her daughter, Dana, and kept the child under the custody of an Omani man temporarily with the promise of coming back to pick her up; but she never did.

The Omani man decided to hand over the girl to the Al Buraimi Police through an Omani woman who alleged that she found her in a park, but initial investigations disputed that claim.

Police are conducting an investigation to find her mother or any relative that would claim her; details of the case are confidential.

Asked how Dana and other children are taken care of, the ministry said it provides them with everything a child needs to develop, but the only thing that the children are missing is a mother’s love and care; fortunately there is a solution.

“Without giving too much detail, we have women or ‘aunties,’ who play the role of the mother. They tend to the kids like a normal mother would and give them the care they need as children,” the ministry explained.

“We don’t want to exaggerate, but the children possibly receive better treatment than when normally at home.” Complete care is given to Dana and the children, from motherly love and proper nourishment, to top notch education and a roof to sleep under.