Girls abandoned, killed in Capital

In one month, three children were abandoned by their parents and one was killed - all because they were girls. While two newborns were left with hospital workers, a seven-year-old was abandoned at south Delhi's Ansal Plaza mall on Monday.

In one month, three children were abandoned by their parents and one was killed - all because they were girls. While two newborns were left with hospital workers, a seven-year-old was abandoned at south Delhi's Ansal Plaza mall on Monday.

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On January 19, a newborn girl was found floating in a sewage drain near Sarai Rohilla in north Delhi. Police said she was only a few hours old when she was thrown in.

The two couples who left their newborn daughters at the city's Kalawati Saran and Bara Hindu Rao hospitals reportedly did so with the consent of hospital authorities.

"It was shocking as the hospitals made them sign consent forms agreeing to give up the girls, who were later sent to adoption centres," said a Child Welfare Committee official of the Delhi government.

"When we tried to trace the parents, the addresses in the hospital records were found to be fake. The reason cited by the parents was that they already had two daughters and couldn't afford another," the official added.

"I am not aware," said Dr Madhu Kudesia, chief medical officer, Bara Hindu Rao Hospital.

Dr Anita Kulshrestha, additional medicial superintendent at Kalawati Saran hospital, did not respond to Hindustan Times' queries.

On Monday, a girl - identified as Pinky - who said she had come from Jamalpur in Bihar with her parents, was found crying at Ansal Plaza.

Bystanders called the police and she was taken to a child protection centre.

The girl told the police her mother was a domestic help while her father did not keep well.

"The parents asked the child to wait at one place in the mall but never came back. It appears to be a case of abandonment. The police are directed to trace the parents," an order issued by the Child Welfare Committee, a quasi-judicial body, on Thursday read.

"Parents killing girls is not a new phenomenon in the country. Ninety per cent of such cases don't even get reported," said Ranjana Kumari, director of the Centre for Social Research, a non-government organisation.