Father flees from Kalwa hospital with deceased 8-month-baby girl

Father flees hospital after his 8-month-old baby girl dies of pneumonia and drug overdose. Caught by police with baby in Mumbai. No strict action taken against him.

Mumbai: A father allegedly fled with his eight-month-old baby girl, who died at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa of pneumonia and a drug overdose in the wee hours of Friday. On being informed that an autopsy would be necessary, the scared man ran away from the hospital.

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Dr Aniruddha Malgaonkar, medical superintendent at the hospital, said the baby was brought in at around 10.30 pm on Thursday. “When we ran blood tests, we found that the infection had already spread through the body and that the baby had a history of cough syrup overdose. The doctors treated her but she passed away around 5 am on Friday.”

The doctors claimed that as soon as they informed the father about the autopsy, he protested. “There are three things to be considered here–the baby was eight months old, the death occurred within 24 hours and it was a case of overdose. A postmortem is compulsory in such cases,” said Dr Malgaonkar.

The working shift in the hospital changes at 7.30 am, which is when the family planned to escape. “The father came out with the baby in his arms,” said Pankaj Nanavare of the Maharashtra Security Force. “I got suspicious, as he was in an unnecessary hurry. I ran back to the nurse to check if everything was alright. By the time she confirmed the absence of the baby, the father had already got into an autorickshaw and left, though his relatives were held at the gate.” Nanavare immediately followed the father on his motorcycle but the auto was soon out of sight.

“The father had two cell phones,” said Dr Malgaonkar. “He had switched one of them off. After coercing the family, they gave us his second number. As soon as the father switched it on, the police got his location and they caught him with the baby in Shil Daighar, where he stays, at around 9.30 am.”

The body was handed over to the hospital around 11 am. Taking into consideration the lack of education of the father, no strict action has been taken against him.