Blood samples of a woman and a one-week-old girl were collected for DNA testing on Monday, as the woman’s family had alleged that his newborn son was swapped with a girl child in an Odisha government-run hospital here.
The DNA testing will be done at the State Forensic Science Laboratory (SFCL), Deputy Superintendent of Capital Hospital Dhananjaya Das said.
A DNA test is conducted to decide, among others, whether an individual is a biological child of another.
Pranakrushna Biswal, a man from Kendrapara district, on September 26 lodged a complaint with the hospital authorities and the police that his wife had given birth to a boy the previous night but he was swapped with a girl child.
Biswal had stated that he was informed about the birth of a boy by an attendant.
Following the complaint, the hospital conducted an investigation which found that the attendant concerned had given the wrong information to the family by mistake.
The authorities have also suspended the female attendant for allegedly giving false information to Biswal’s family about the birth of a boy.
“Biswal did not agree to the probe findings. Following an order of a local court, samples of his wife and the girl have been collected for DNA matching to ascertain the truth,” Das said.
Biswal said he would accept the result of the DNA test.
DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) is a genetic code carrying information from both parents to their children. It is a unique code for everybody, as people receive different sets of genes from their parents.
As the Biswal family has not accepted the baby girl yet, she is under the care of the hospital.
Published 02 October 2023, 16:20 IST