Police find abandoned baby’s mother in Jharkhand

Police find abandoned baby’s mother in Jharkhand
V Narayan
Sunday, May 18, 2008  03:50 IST

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MUMBAI: On Tuesday the Tilak Nagar police will reunite a month-old baby boy with his 20-year-old mother who had allegedly abandoned the baby in a general ward at Rajawadi hospital in Ghatkopar (E). The mother, identified as Sujata, fled from the hospital on May 5 after delivering the baby on April 18.
The next day, the hospital registered a case with the Tilak Nagar police, who after investigations, learnt that Sujata hails from Tabeja village in Rourkela, Jharkhand. A police team was sent to Jharkhand on Saturday to track and bring back the baby’s mother.
The case was registered by assistant police inspector Jeetendra Sonanve and sub-inspector Deepali Kharpe of the Tilak Nagar police and the girl was booked under section 317 (Exposure and abandonment of child under 12 years, by parent or person taking care of it) of the Indian Penal Code. At present, the baby is in the care of Balanand (World Children Welfare Trust of India) in Chembur.
According to the police, in January 2007, Sujata came to Mumbai in search of a job and was employed as a domestic help in a flat at Dev Darshan Building in Chembur. She soon befriended a youth who too worked as a domestic help in the same building. “She got pregnant by the youth,” said a police officer (requesting anonymity) from the Tilak Nagar police station.
In October 2007, Sujata had a showdown with her employer and was sacked. “She went back to her native village at Jharkhand for three months. It is there  that her parents learnt about her pregnancy and they had a fight with her. The girl then came back to Mumbai, but we are not sure if she was thrown out of her home,” said the police officer.
In March 2008, when Sujata returned, she started working as a domestic help in Chembur. “But after 15 days on the job, the employer removed her from the job due to her ill-health,” said senior inspector SK Narvane of the Tilak Nagar police station.
She then lived on the streets and on April 17 she was found sleeping in the premises of Raheja Building in Ghatkopar. “A watchman noticed the girl and called the police control room, who informed the Vikhroli police. They then took her to the hospital where she delivered a baby on April 18,” said Narvane.
The girl was undergoing counselling provided by the hospital, when she managed to flee on May 5. “The police team has left for Jharkhand and the girl will be arrested soon,” he added.
narayan@dnaindia.net