Newborn girl abandoned outside Safdarjung, police fail to trace parents

Baby was born with cleft lip at  the hospital

A newborn baby was found abandoned in an autorickshaw outside south Delhi’s Safdarjung Hospital late on Tuesday night. 

Hospital authorities said the baby girl was born at the hospital itself, but efforts to track her parents have yielded no results as the address mentioned at the hospital was found to be fake.

The infant was found by Mohammad Ejaz who was on a visit to the hospital to meet an ailing relative. While leaving the hospital, Ejaz heard the cries of a baby from the cluster of parked autorickshaws outside the hospital. On finding a baby in one of the autos, he searched for her parents, but finally informed the hospital after no one claimed the child.

A badge was found hanging from the infant’s arm which indicated that she was born at Safdarjung Hospital itself. Police were immediately informed who began a search for the parents. Medical Superintendent of Safdarjung Hospital Dr B D Athani said the baby has been admitted to the hospital’s nursery and is being taken care of.

 “The baby was born with a cleft lip at this hospital either on February 7 or February 8. She is being taken care of at the hospital,” said Athani. A cleft lip is an opening or a gap in the lip, often seen as a deformity.

Hospital authorities, meanwhile, gave police the address provided at the hospital by the infant’s parents. However, the address could not be verified and even the identity of the mother was found to be fake, said a senior police officer.

“Prima facie it appears to be an attempt to conceal an illegitimate child. The baby was found to be healthy and well-clothed to protect her from the cold,”  said a senior police officer.

“Since the baby was found safe in an autorickshaw, it is obvious the parents had not left the child to die,” he added.

Not much help

Not much could be gathered from possible CCTV footage of the hospital. The officer said while footage from the hospital building did not reveal much, there were no CCTV cameras in the area where the baby was found.