Hospital authority shifts abandoned child to adoption centre

Kolkata: A toddler who was abandoned by her parents at the Kolkata Medical College and Hospital was on Tuesday shifted to an adoption agency in Howrah amid the ongoing three-week-long lockdown to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.

Meenu, the name given by hospital authorities to the girl, was abandoned by her parents at the hospital after they came to know that her child was born with a tumour in 2017.

The hospital authorities conducted a frantic search of her parents based on the address furnished by them at the time of admitting her mother to the hospital. However, the address was fake. Since then the hospital authorities took care of the baby.

"On March 31, we have received the child. She is now at Keuti Purba Daharani Biplabi Sangha (specialised adoption agency]," said Rakesh Ghosh, coordinator of Keuti Purba Daharani Biplabi Sangha.

Meenu was born at Kolkata Medical College and Hospital on October 3, 2017 and had battled a rare type of tumour.

While a team of doctors from the department of paediatric surgery and department of medical oncology joined hands to treat the child, a tumour board was also formed. The baby has now recovered from the disease.

Hospital authorities were looking for someone who can adopt the child through a formal procedure prescribed by the government.

"Meenu is familiar with all the staff of the hospital. Medical superintendent and vice-principal of Kolkata Medical College and Hospital Dr Indranil Biswas, head of the department of medical oncology Dr Shibashish Bhattacharyya, and head of the department of paediatric surgery Dr Sukanta Kumar Das, the nurses and other hospital staff took care of her and gave her full attention. This apart, we had celebrated her birthday twice at the hospital premise," said Dr Ajay Kumar Das, RMO-Cum Clinical Tutor, paediatric surgery department.