Just because they’re girls
A NURSE leaps from her chair and rushes to the gates of the orphanage as an alarm goes off
It is the signal that yet another baby girl has been abandoned in the street outside in a wicker basket.
The nurse, Bincy Binju, says: “As I approach the cradle I get a sinking feeling. Sometimes I find a newborn baby and sometimes I find a baby a few months old. It’s heartbreaking.”
A Sunday People investigation found that three girls are dumped outside the Palna centre in New Delhi every month.
And similar numbers are abandoned outside other orphanages, hospitals and police stations in India’s sprawling capital to await a proper loving home. But they are the lucky ones. India’s so- called cradle scheme was set up to save children from death in a country where daughters are seen as a burden to their poverty-stricken parents. Their murders are common.
A shocking number of baby girls are dumped dead or alive in bushes, rubbish tips and ditches or even buried alive.
Babies in rural areas often do not even see their first birthday because of malnutrition and harsh living conditions.
The government set up the scheme so mothers could get rid of their unwanted babies in safety and without having to themselves.
More than 4,000 have been abandoned this way since it started in the 1990s.
Baskets are fitted with electronic alarms that sound the moment a baby is placed inside.
The orphanage - which looks after up to 100 children, from newborns to eightyear-olds - is run by the Delhi Council of Child Welfare charity.
Assistant director Lorraine Campos said: “We have around 10 children at the moment who were left in the basket. It works and we want more and more women to know about it.
“Girls are most often left. Usually a boy is left if he belongs to an unmarried mother or has a medical issue.
“It’s sad to say most abandoned children are born to unmarried women who are rape victims, minors or victims of incest. They all have their own – but genuine – reasons. It is a myth that only i dentify poor people in India abandon their children. People from all backgrounds leave their children here.
“Some children are left in a cradle with a suitcase full of branded clothes, which only hints at their background.”
The tots are found new homes by adoption agencies through the official Central Adoption Resource Authority, Cara, which has 14,000 couples on the waiting list, including 20 from Britain.
Desperate
Agencies ensure each baby has no claimants, by working closely with police and other agencies, before allowing adoption.
Last year UK couples adopted 14 of the 3,000 children who were found homes but Cara organisers want more British families to come forward.
Boss Deepak Kumar said: “The cradle scheme has stopped mothers killing their unwanted babies. Many women in India do not want to openly abandon their babies due to the stigma attached to being an unmarried mother.
“So many women used to throw their babies in bushes and dustbins. Now, they can leave their baby without anyone knowing what they’ve done, and ensuring the safety of the baby.
“We want women to know they don’t have to kill their baby. There are a lot of people who would love to adopt so we want them to use the cradle scheme.”
Matru Chaya is another adoption agency that supports the scheme.
Seema, 42, a caretaker at the New Delhi home for eight years, said: “I’ve picked up babies from the cradle all hours of the day.
“The most emotional time was when a newborn baby was left in the cradle at 2am and born three months premature with her umbilical cord and drips still attached. I wondered what on earth had made her mother leave her.
“Today, she is a healthy child and in an adoption process.”
Deepak added: “Last year 14 UK couples adopted a baby. Those numbers should be higher and we are working on it.
“Now we have the cradle scheme, more women will leave their baby, knowing so many couples will give their baby a home. We do not want these desperate women to kill their baby. We’ll make sure they find a family who will love them.”
Anyone interested in adopting in India can register with Cara at www.cara.nic.in.