Why are newborns only vanishing from government hospitals?
- The nurse of Jayanagar General Hospital took a newborn and gave her to an unidentified man.
- The nurse is claiming that she thought the man was a relative of the parents of the child.
- Previously, newborn babies were stolen from Vani Vilas and Bowring Hospital.
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With recent case of twins being stolen from Jayanagar General Hospital in broad daylight, the question about the safety of babies born in government hospitals has come to haunt the health department once again.
Thagyaraj and Sahanashree the poor couple had twin babies a boy and a girl on January 29. Soon after the birth, the girl had to be kept at NICU ward as she had breathing difficulty due to jaundice. The newborns were being breastfed once every three hours and nurse befriended the mother and took the baby from her on Friday before handing her to an unidentified person.The police who are investigating the matter has got a clue and are working on it to trace the culprit.
The accused nurse Thippamma, however, has claimed innocence by saying that she was under the impression that the unidentified person was a relative of the couple, the police are not willing to buy her defence and are further investigating into the case.
The deputy director, Child Health, Dr Rajni who had come to the hospital to counsel the mother found that despite the good number of doctors and nurses at the NICU the baby was stolen.
"The mother is in shock. This depression is due to grief. We have told her that efforts are on to trace her baby. Usually, the obsession for male child results in an exchange of children in hospitals, but here a girl child is stolen. Now, only police can help to solve this case," she said.
She further added that the CCTV had recorded the footage of a man at the NICU but the camera does not have any recording of him leaving, this shows the lapses in security at government hospitals. The hospitals should add 30% of security, and if it is not done, the same kind of theft may resurface.
The child rights and health activists say, this is not the first case of a newborn baby being stolen from a government hospital, last year a baby girl was taken by patient's relative. The women did not have a child and wanted to have a baby. This obsession made her steal the baby from her relative from Vani Vilas Hospital.
Similarly, a burqa-clad lady stole a baby from Bowring Hospital as she did not have any child. The repeated incidents of babies being taken from government hospital have put the system in dark spot.
"Notice was sent to all the hospitals to follow strict rules after the incidences in Vani Vilas and Bowring Hospital. Now, as per the rules, the newborn will be discharged only with the mother and not anyone else. The mother and child's photo is taken, and the security officer at the exit point will take a look at these photo before signing the discharge summary," said Dr Devadas, Dean, BMRCI.
