‘Wasn’t going to give up again’ Murli Kanne

And it was as if it was all meant to be. On November 21, Murli and his friend, on their way to the gym, took a detour as the latter had to relieve himself. Not that we endorse public urination, but that turn of events actually changed a life.

“It was around 7.30 pm when a friend and I were on our way to the gym. We took a road that we generally don’t take as my friend wanted to relieve himself. That’s when we heard a baby crying and the sound was coming from a garbage bin nearby. I wasn’t shocked. This wasn’t the first time,” says Murli.

As a young boy studying in Class VIII, he had a similar experience. “But that child was in a worse condition. She was physically deformed and really needed help. But we were a group of five children and the minute we heard that we had to go to the police, all my friends ran away. And all I could do was scream for help.”

The recent incident took place near the Usha Mullapudi Cardiac Centre, Jeedimetla. And Murli, who decided that he would not let this one-year-old baby girl fight it out alone, immediately posted for help on Facebook.

“My friend was hesitant. He kept asking ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ So I decided to post for help and I immediately got calls from people with suggestions, advice and leads,” he says.

From his posts online, it is evident that many couples wanted to adopt the girl, but the 23-year-old decided to take the legal route. He took the girl to the local police station, where he was explained the legalities involved with surrendering a child to an orphanage.

“You cannot directly take a child to an orphanage or a shelter. One is expected to first file an official complaint and then be escorted by the police to the orphanage. It was almost midnight by the time all these formalities were over,” he adds.

The infant is now in Shishu Vihar, Ameerpet, and has a name Anshu. Murli plans to meet her as often as he can and help her in ways he can.

But the fact that both the abandoned babies were girls has touched Murli deeply. “Seeing girl children as burden is the mentality that needs to change. It’s not a girl or boy or the gender that is important, it is life that is beautiful,” says the youngster, who currently is working on a start-up networking site that aims at bringing people, police and government together.

Meanwhile, Sunanda, a supervisor at the home, confirmed, “Yes, late on November 21, Murli escorted by the SI Bhoopal Goud came and handed over the baby to us. Anshu is with us at Shishu Vihar.”