Baby girl found in garbage dump recovering at Ghaziabad hospital

The girl was found by a domestic help on September 27 at a roadside garbage dump in Indirapuram

“I saw her lying on a dump of roadside garbage. The body of a dog was lying by her side. Insects hovered around her head and were biting her. Hundreds of locals gathered at the scene. Since I am a mother of eight daughters and a son, I could not control my emotions... I picked her up and headed home, holding her to my chest...” said Anita Devi, a domestic help, who brought an abandoned newborn girl to her house at a construction site.

The newborn was found on September 27 at a roadside garbage dump near Link Road in Indirapuram.(Sakib Ali /HT Photo)

Anita found the newborn on September 27 at a roadside garbage dump near Link Road under the Indirapuram police station area.

“I bathed her with warm water, cut her umbilical cord and even massaged her. At the garbage dump, she was breathing hard to survive as the bright sunlight scorched her face. Later in the day, I called up the police for help, as per law,” she said.

Following the directions of the child welfare committee (CWC), the girl was admitted to MMG district hospital and later referred to a private super-specialty hospital.

“She seems to be premature and having respiratory distress due to the unhygienic conditions where she was found. She is showing signs of recovery. We have administered antibiotics to rule out any chances of infection. She is lodged at the neonatal ICU and would need a minimum 5-7 days of medical observation,” a hospital spokesperson said.

“The girl has bruises over the forehead. She got timely help and an officer is also deputed to supervise the medical help given to her. The other girl found in January is still with the hospital under medical observation. We will have to send the girls to the centre in Mathura. The CWC will give the necessary directions,” said Mahesh Kandpal, district probation officer.

In January, a newborn girl was found in a plot in Indirapuram. The girl was in a critical state, lying unprotected in the open, during winter. She was later admitted to the ICU of Avantika Hospital.

“Since that day, hospital authorities are taking care of her and she will be under medical observation with us on directions of the child welfare committee. We have named her ‘Peeku’ and are taking good care of her. She is responding well to the treatment and is also undergoing physiotherapy,” said Dr Yuvraj Singh, hospital director.

Apart from the two incidents where newborn girls were abandoned in Ghaziabad, the body of a newborn baby was also spotted inside the premises of MMG district hospital in Ghaziabad on September 21.

“The girl was handed over to police for postmortem. We inquired about the details but police said that they were awaited,” said Dr Shraddha Yadav, chief medical superintendent, MMG women hospital.