Berhampur, Nov 8: On Sunday evening, a two-day old girl was found abandoned near the sub-divisional hospital at Chhatrapur in the district headquarters town of Ganjam. It’s stated that a hearing her cries a passerby spotted her and rescued her. The infant was later handed over to the hospital authorities who after the treatment handed over the baby to the NGO, Childline on Monday. After being rescued, the infant was handed over to the hospital authorities. The Childline activists produced the infant before the district child welfare committee (CWC) and she was housed in the childcare home here. Prabhu Prasad Patra, coordinator, Childline, Berhampur said that the doctors stated the condition of the infant to be fine and she is being fed as per the doctor’s advice. On the other hand, the IIC, Chhatrapur police station, Bishnu Prasad Patra stated that they are on the lookout of the baby’s parents and are also trying to ascertain whether they had any role in abandoning her. Also, the Childline activists said that in the past 10 months around six abandoned babies have been rescued from different places in the district among which four are baby girls.
Notably Ganjam district has a child sex ration lower than that of the state average. The child sex ratio here was at 908 girls per 1,000 boys according to 2011 census. It was lower than the state average which was 941 girls and so finding an abandoned girl child resorts to importance.
