Bengaluru: Syed Habib is a dejected man. In a matter of minutes, he and his wife were thrust into a nightmare, and the couple does not know if they will ever emerge out of it. “Around 12 noon my wife went to feed the baby and a lady wearing a burkha came and sweet-talked Fareeda asking whether her child was male or female,” says the father of the four-day-old baby who was stolen from the hospital.
Claiming the disturbing occurrence as first ever in eight years, the hospital authorities are still shocked. “It has happened at Bowring hospital for the first time in eight years and has definitely made us rethink the security measures as well,” says Dr Prasanna Kumar, Resident Medical Officer (RMO) Bowring hospital.
With the same old story repeating itself, but at a different government hospital, the city seems to be in the grip of child-lifters again. The issue which seems to be a norm at Vanivilas Hospital is now being witnessed at Bowring hospital. The hospital authorities however maintain that security was at its place at the time of the event.
“There is security and CCTV cameras outside the NICU and the feeding room is opposite to the NICU and mothers are given some 15 minutes time or even more to feed and bond with the baby,” says Dr Prasanna Kumar. He suggests that the 25-year-old Fareeda was naive and foolish to have handed over the infant to an unknown face. Responding to the security lapse, he says, “the visiting hours are from 12 pm to 2 pm and when the feeding mother herself hands over the child to some other woman, what can the security do?”
Meanwhile, 25-year-old, Fareeda was inconsolable and still in the ward. “It is her second child and she had no clue that something like this would happen in a time frame of ten minutes. When she realised what happened she rushed to the security who then informed the campus police and they searched for the burkha-clad woman in and around the campus,” Prasanna said.
It did not help much. The embattled hospital is now tightening its security. “The hospital witnesses some 10-15 babies delivered everyday and currently has 10 infants at the NICU. We have increased the security outside NICU and mothers will be issued special passes and only after they show the pass would they be allowed to enter the NICU. We will also increase security at the PICU and NICU,” informs Dr Prasanna.
“It is shocking and sad. I am surprised because generally we have a very robust system with CCTVs and security tags and mother and child are photographed at the time of birth and a record is maintained,” informs Dr Asha Benakappa, director of Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health who was earlier the HOD Paediatrics, Vanivilas Hospital where such cases were always in news. “Unless the mother was a part of the crime it has almost negligible chances of such events occurring.”
Speaking about the reason, Nagasimha G. Rao of Child Rights Trust (CRT) says, “Child trafficking exists. Law enforcers should come and visit such places routinely for inspection to create fear among these peddlers. Only fear will demotivate them.”
Meanwhile, the hospital is planning to put more posters which warn new-parents about such peddlers on the loose. “We have posters but we are planning to put more posters as parents need to be made aware about such issues,” says Dr Prasanna.
Previous Incidents
- December 2012: Maternity ward patient Vasantha’s baby was stolen by a lady who hoodwinked the mother telling her that she will take care of the baby while she goes out to buy snacks. The incident happened in Vani Vilas Hospital. The accused, identified as Prema Mary, a resident of Thattaguppe, was later arrested.
- December 2012: Owner of a private nursing home in Neelasandra was caught red-handed while she was trying to sell an infant to a third party. The accused is a gynecologist by profession and is identified as Parvin. Parvin had confessed to the police that she had at least sold four newborns since 2004.
- January 2010: A labour ward patient named Thavai was sedated by a woman who made away with her baby girl from a state-run hospital. The woman was found loitering in the labour ward and had even asked for Thavai’s baby to be handed over to one of the mother’s relative claiming that she asked for the baby. The mother got suspicious and refused to give the baby after which the woman made the mother smell a sedative.
Couple shattered as no clues about their stolen newborn son
Parents of the four-day-old infant that was stolen from Bowring Hospital on Sunday afternoon have lost the joy of welcoming a newborn into their family. “My wife Fareeda has not eaten since Sunday afternoon after our newborn disappeared with the stranger woman. She keeps on lamenting and asking about our son to me repeatedly,” said Syed Habib, father of the infant.
The entire family was excited about the newborn’s arrival and many people came to see the baby boy including my friends, my wife’s friends, neighbours and relatives. “Never in her wildest imagination did my wife think the lady will disappear with our baby,” Habib said adding, “The lady befriended my wife telling that she had three daughters and had no son. She also told that she was delighted to hold our son in her arms and was pampering the infant for 5 minutes, after which she moved away and disappeared. The police have also found a man who is said to be an accomplice of the woman from the CCTV footage,” Habeeb said.
Blaming the security personnel at the hospital, Habeeb said, “The security guard sitting at the entrance of the labour ward and the NICU questions me whenever I go to get the baby from the NICU to bring it to ward for feeding, but interestingly the guard fails to question the lady moving out of the hospital with the baby in hand. I still have hopes that the police will find my newborn, says Habeeb.
Thefts continue despite baby-tracking system
Babies being stolen from hospitals are not new in the city. Many cases of baby thefts have been reported from mostly the state-run hospitals including Vanivilas Hospital. To tackle this menace, the hospital management had installed a baby-tracking system, (a tracking band tied to the newborn’s hand or leg) earlier that raises an alarm to alert the security guards if a baby is carried out of the hospital, but despite such measures, baby theft continue to happen with the latest from Bowring & Lady Curzon Hospital’s maternity ward where a four-day old infant was stolen from her mother on Sunday afternoon.
“It is impossible for a newborn to be carried out of a hospital without the knowledge of the hospital staff especially when the mother and the baby are both inpatients at that hospital,” says Anita Shivakumar, Chairperson, Child Welfare Committee (CWC) Bengaluru Urban. Anita goes on to add that this could be the work of traffickers who sell infants to childless couples. “They get tipped off by none other than the hospital staff, it could be a nurse, could be housekeeping staff, or anyone from a prospective family who is admitted at the hospital, from whom the baby can be stolen. The trafficker learns about when the security goes for a break and within a short span of time, the mission is completed,” says Anita adding that this happens mostly in government-run hospitals as there is large crowd of patients and most of them come from economically weaker sections. The security is also lax at government hospitals when compared to private hospitals where crowd is less and the security is strict.
