Childless cop resolves to fight system to adopt abandoned baby

As the officer incharge of the Wave City Police station that day, he asked a team of officers to visit the spot and admit the baby to a Community Health Centre(CHC) and get her medical check up done.

On a sunny Friday afternoon, sub-inspector Pushpendra Kumar was investigating a murder near the Inayatpur and Raghunathpur villages of Ghaziabad when he was alerted that a newborn baby was found abandoned nearby. “I thought it was ‘some’ child that was abandoned by the parents,” he said. But little did he know that was the beginning of an emotional roller-coaster that was awaiting him in the days to follow.

As the officer incharge of the Wave City Police station that day, he asked a team of officers to visit the spot and admit the baby to a Community Health Centre(CHC) and get her medical check up done.

An hour and a half later, Kumar decided to visit the spot — a jungle between the two villages — where the baby was abandoned to find any clue of the missing parents. A few village residents were still at the spot. “They said that there were wild dogs in the area. The boundary wall on which the baby was laid was narrow, it was a surprise that she was found safe,” he said.

Soon, he was at the CHC. “The doctors informed me that the baby was doing fine, healthy and weighed around 3.15 kg. I went inside to see her. She was dressed in a light blue t-shirt. Tiny hair covered her head and her eyes were closed. Wrapped in a pink towel, the doctors placed her in my arms. They said the child was doing fine and needed to be shifted to an orphanage,” Kumar said.

His heart sank. “My wife Rashi and I have been trying for a child for the past six years. And then, there was someone to whom a child did not matter,” his eyes welled up as he said.

“She was so little. Who was going to take care of her? I decided to take her with me to my home,” he said.

Kumar then dialed a few officials for advice as he was unaware of the legalities. The officials suggested he could keep the baby after completing legal formalities with the Sub-Divisional Magistrate. “I called my wife. She asked me to bring her home. That evening my wife bought everything for her — diaper, wet wipes, milk and new clothes,” he said.

He also tried to reach the Ghaziabad Child Welfare Committee, but all his calls were unanswered, he claimed. “The office of the Child Welfare Committee was closed that day. Then I sat to write the letters to all my senior authorities informing them of my plan of keeping the child.”

The baby was at Kumar’s home by 6:30 pm. “My neigbours and wife had arranged for a grand welcome. A few took our pictures and posted them on social media. I did not know how the night passed. We kept looking at her. I had decided that next morning, I will take her to a private hospital and get a proper check up,” he said.
But the joy was short-lived.

With the social media posts going viral, the couple received a call from an official at the Ghaziabad Child Welfare Department. “He (Kumar) broke the law. You cannot take the baby home like that. There is an entire process,” said Kaumudi Chaudhary, an official at the Child Welfare Department.

The department asked Kumar to “admit the girl at the M.M.G Hospital (district hospital) in Ghaziabad. “She is doing fine. We have conducted a few basic infection tests and once the report is out, we will put out missing child posters. If nobody claims the child for a month, we will put her up for legal adoption. It will take nearly two months,” Chaudhary said.

The couple is devastated. “I am not able to forget her. My wife’s condition is worse,” he said. While Kumar gets busy with his cop duties, his wife has been quietly visiting the baby at the hospital for the past two days. “I have asked her not to, she is developing an attachment. If we do not get her custody, my wife will be devastated,” Kumar said as he reached into the left pocket of his pants for a handkerchief to wipe off the tears. The couple has not given up yet. “I will do everything it takes to get her, legally. I do not want to have my own child now,” the cop said.