Maharashtra: Thane cops help woman who gave birth on footpath

Personnel from the Thane police came to the rescue of a destitute woman who delivered a baby on a footpath in the city on Thursday, an official said.

Rekha Gunjalkar (27), who lived on the pavement under SATIS bridge, delivered a baby girl in the early hours of the day and was lying in a state of pain when a passer-by chanced upon her and alerted the Thane Nagar police station, the official said.

A team comprising beat marshals and a few women personnel rushed to the scene to find the mother and child with the umbilical cord still attached and arranged for an ambulance to take them to a hospital in Kalwa, he said.

Doctors attended to the woman and infant, who are both in good health, the official said.

"I am proud of the personnel who rushed to help the destitute woman," senior inspector R M Somavanshi of Thane Nagar police station said.