Tuesday, October 26, 2010


CCTV nails mom tossing baby girl out of KEM toilet



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MUMBAI: Major drama unfolded at the civic-run KEM Hospital on Tuesday morning after the mother of one-and-a-half-month-old twins raised an alarm saying her baby girl had been stolen. Chaotic scenes ensued as nurses, ward boys and security guards ran helter-skelter trying to nab the 'baby-snatcher' in the hope that he/she could not have gone far.

But what followed in the next 15 minutes shocked everyone. CCTV camera images showed that the mother, Deepika Parmar, had the girl child in her arms while leaving paediatric ward No. 2 around 4.55 am. But she returned to her cot about 25 minutes later without the infant. Soon, everyone stopped their hunt for the 'culprit' and the mother—who was crying inconsolably, clutching her son (the other twin) close to her—became the prime suspect. 

Finding her behaviour odd, the hospital's security interrogated Deepika even as the Bhoiwada police arrived. 

Their suspicions grew stronger as she could not give a proper description of the infant's clothes. Within minutes of the questioning, the mother confessed: she had thrown her infant daughter out of the bathroom window. Around the same time, security guards found the infant (only slightly bigger than an adult's palm) outside, lying on a pile of dirty linen and mossy, green water, just under the bathroom window. 

The guards rushed the wailing baby to the casualty ward. Dean of KEM Hospital, Dr Sanjay Oak, who had also examined the child, said she was bleeding profusely and had a large injury mark on the right side of her skull. She must have had some internal injuries as well, Oak said, adding that the infant's body temperature had fallen to dangerous levels and she could not be saved. An eyewitness said rats had possibly eaten away a portion of her right ear. The baby succumbed to her injuries five hours later, around 10.30 am. 

In her statement to the police, Deepika said she was fed up of her newborns suffering constantly since their premature birth at seven months. The twins were born in a private nursing home and later shifted to Cooper Hospital, before they were admitted to KEM on October 19. Both babies were anaemic and were kept in incubators. Father Manish, a tailor, seemed lost as he said the couple had desperately wanted children after Deepika had had two miscarriages before this pregnancy. 

Police did not arrest Deepika till late in the evening as she had to breastfeed her baby boy."We have booked her under IPC 317 that deals with abandoning a baby in an infectious environment. Preliminary interrogation says she was tired of the children's ill-health,'' said Vikram Patil, senior police inspector of Bhoiwada police station. Based on the postmortem report, charges could be pressed against the mother, he said. 

Speculation was rife about the mother's mental state, although Dr Oak said she had had the composure to pick up the girl child. Police also said Deepika had enough sense to remove a glass pane from the window to throw the child out."Anyone has to be conscious to do that,'' an officer said. When asked about the incident, Deepika seemed oblivious to things and refused to speak.
(times of india) 
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