Cuttack baby swap drama ends after 133 days

Curtains were drawn on the four-and-a-half-month-old alleged baby swapping drama at a Cuttack hospital today when one of the two warring women accepted the unclaimed girl child following direction of the Orissa High Court.

"I am extremely delighted to take back my child. Now I have no doubt that this baby is ours," Rashmita Mallick, the mother of the baby Atmaja told reporters after formally accepting the child.

The baby was lying unclaimed at the SCB Medical College Hospital ever since she was born on March 30. The hospital staff have been taking care of her and named her 'Atmaja'.

Claiming that she had delivered a boy, Rashmita Mallick had left the hospital refusing to accept the girl. She had also alleged that her 'son' was swapped with the daughter of another woman having the same surname as hers.

The hospital witnessed an emotional scene with doctors, nurses, and other staff members hugging Atmaja before she was handed over to her mother. "Atmaja had become an integral part here. Before starting a day's work we used to play with her," said a nurse.

The division bench of Chief Justice V Gopala Gowda and Justice S K Mishra yesterday ordered Atmaja's father Sukanta Mallick to accept the baby as the DNA test report confirmed that the his wife Rashmita was not the mother of the boy she had claimed to have delivered.