A 21-year-old woman in judicial custody for abandoning her newborn girl was re-united with her elder, two-year-old daughter on Friday after securing bail.
Hindustan Times had reported how Sakri Rathod, a resident of the Kranti Nagar slums in Sakivihar Road, was forced to abandon her infant daughter because she had no money or food. (‘I had nothing to feed her, so I left her at a dump’, HT, November 4).
After being rescued by the police, the baby girl was handed over to Vatsalya trust, an NGO in Kanjurmarg.
Concerned about the fate of the elder daughter Saroja after reading the story, Kiran Raval (38), a Kandivli resident, approached the Sakinaka police on November 6.
“The incident had moved me so much that I could neither sleep nor was I able to concentrate on work,” said Raval, who works as an agency associate at Max New York Life Insurance Company in Andheri (East).
When Raval told the police that he was concerned about the future of Saroja and wanted to bail out Rathod, they said he needed to approach the court with relevant documents as Rathod was under judicial custody and thus it was not in the police’s hands to release her.
The next day, Raval, along with Sakinaka police personnel, approached a metropolitan court at Andheri to move for her bail. Considering the bail plea, the magistrate ordered Rathod's release on bail without any surety or bond, citing humanitarian grounds. “When Rathod met Saroja, the girl was in shock,” said Raval. “I gave them food, milk and ration for a month and some cash.”
{{/usCountry}}The next day, Raval, along with Sakinaka police personnel, approached a metropolitan court at Andheri to move for her bail. Considering the bail plea, the magistrate ordered Rathod's release on bail without any surety or bond, citing humanitarian grounds. “When Rathod met Saroja, the girl was in shock,” said Raval. “I gave them food, milk and ration for a month and some cash.”
{{/usCountry}}However, Rathod may not get custody of her second daughter till her financial condition improves. “Now, I am trying to find her a job so that she gets her infant girl back,” said Raval.