Beggar nurses abandoned child, autorickshaw drivers pitch in too
Pulkit Vasudha
Ahmedabad, August 3:Unlike many other children who are forced to fend for themselves or left to die, an infant found a poor, haggard woman and a community of autorickshaw drivers rallying to take care for her. For four days before the police and NGOs came to take away the baby, the poor woman cared for the child like her own. The autorickshaw drivers pitched in by offering milk, biscuits, food and clothing to the surrogate mother and child.
According to the autorickshaw drivers who witnessed the scene, a woman came to the railway station on Monday evening with three children — two boys and a girl, all about eight or nine months old. She found the beggar woman sitting on a pavement outside the station and laid the child in her arms before walking away with the two boys.
Bulbuli, the beggar woman who cared for the child for four days, was distraught when the railway police and Childline workers took away her adopted daughter today morning. “The child was happy with me. I hope she will be happy wherever she goes,” she said.
Irshad Hussain, an auto rickshaw driver, who was witness to the scene, went looking for the woman when he realised that she had abandoned the baby. “For the first few days, we kept thinking the mother might return and take the child home,” said Hussain. “Since the woman had no means of sustenance and no money to feed the child, autorickshaw drivers gave her milk, biscuits and food,” he added.
Another autorickshaw driver, Shabir Maniyar, said, “Many of us volunteered to take the baby home thinking that we would be able to care for her better. But the woman appeared to be so happy that we felt it was best to leave her with the child.”
Hussain contacted the Childline desk at the railway station today morning. “We were providing food to both, but I was worried about the child’s future. It would be in the best interests of the child if her parents are traced,” he said .
The Childline workers and the government railway police swung into action immediately. She has now been handed over to the Naari Sanrakshan Gruh in Odhav, which has a baby care centre.
Source: Indian Express