Welfare department officials found that every month, 'one or two babies abandoned mostly by unwed mothers'
bandoned infants are being found, dead or alive, with alarming regularity in the Jharkhand capital and child protection officials don’t seem to know how to stem the disturbing pattern.
Between June and December this year, 10 newborns were reportedly found along roads, in garbage vats or in drains and activists believe this is only a conservative estimate. While abandoning the girl child is quite common in the state, many of the infants are boys and hence, perhaps born out of wedlock.
The latest rescue took place on Saturday when members of social outfit Rebels Club heard cries of a baby at Idris Colony in Kantatoli under Lower Bazaar thana.
“It must have been around 7pm. We traced the cries to a gunny bag near an apartment. Inside it was a baby boy, barely hours old. He hadn’t even been cleaned properly. We quickly arranged for clothes to protect him from the cold and informed police,” said Arzoo Khan, a member of the club who runs a garage in the area.