Date:19/01/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/01/19/stories/2008011959880300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Newborn abandoned in hospital

Staff Reporter

BANGALORE: Even as the city police continue to grope in the dark about the newborn baby girl kidnapped from KC General Hospital, a newborn boy was found abandoned there on Friday.

According to Medical Superintendent Vishwaradhya, a 25-year-old woman gave birth to the baby, her second, around 12.30 a.m. She had come alone and was shifted to the maternity ward at 9 a.m.

Just after a paediatrician checked the baby, the mother asked another woman next to her bed to watch her child as she was going to the bathroom. When she did not return, the hospital called the police.

The police, along with the hospital staff, went to the address given by her, which turned out to be false. “We are taking care of the baby. It will be handed over to the authorised adoption agency on Saturday,” Dr. Vishwaradhya told The Hindu. The hospital will keep track of the child for six months, he added.

Meanwhile, the Malleswaram police have not made any headway in tracing Channamma, the woman who allegedly kidnapped the baby girl from the hospital on January 5. The child’s father, Manjunath, who admitted giving his child to her, was not cooperating in the search. The police are continuing to question Manjunath’s relatives and the hospital staff.