Infant deemed dead, now battling for life

The infant that was deemed dead though alive, and was taken for burial to the Shahapur graveyard on Monday, is now battling for life in the district hospital.

The infant was taken back to hospital without burial when it suddenly began moving its limbs thus proving it was alive. The 45-day-old infant has suffered neurological ailments during birth. The parents are hoping for a miracle to save the child.

Sandeep Jadar, the father and resident of Bharat Nagar in Shahapur, works as salesman in a cloth shop. He denied that they attempted to bury his daughter alive.

He said, the private hospital where his daughter was admitted for high fever, handed them the infant on Monday morning stating that it would die soon. An hour later the baby stopped moving.

"We presumed it dead and brought our baby for last rites. When we noticed movements, we rushed the baby to the district hospital, which is relatively affordable,"

Assistant Commissioner of Police (Market Subdivision) Shankar Marihal said, police traced the family and found that their infant had been admitted in the district hospital for treatment. "The family did not make any attempt to bury the baby alive or practice black magic," he added.

Jadar in a statement to the police, informed that he had married Geeta on May 15, 2017 and their first child, the baby girl, was born on May 10, 2018. She had high fever on June 20 and was treated by a doctor in the Shahapur suburb and later referred to another private hospital in the city.

As she did not recover, she was shifted to another hospital with PICU facility. The super-specialty hospital diagnosed their daughter was suffering from brain damage and its heart was weak. On June 25, doctors informed the parents that the infant will die.

He further stated that at about 12.45 pm, infant closed its eyes and was presumed dead. They informed our close relatives and left the hospital at about 1.15 pm to the Shahapur burial ground for last rites.

While we were entering the graveyard, we found the baby moving and rushed to another private doctor nearby who also said that the movement was because of oxygen trapped inside the baby's body. This doctor also declared that the baby was dead.

“When we again went for funeral, the infant opened its eyes, we took it to one private hospital and later to the district hospital,” Jadar stated.

Jadar said: "The watchman at the crematorium first thought it to be still born and wrongly informed the media that we tried to bury our baby alive".