How Mumbai female cop, team helped woman deliver baby in South Mumbai

PSI Priya Garud

The first person account of Police Sub-Inspector Priya Garud, who saved the life of a woman and her newborn, has gone viral. She had been applauded by Home Minister Anil Deshmukh for her work. Garud has penned how people tried to dodge their duties but the police didn't leave until the woman was hospitalised. mid-day had reported the police officers' heroic actions on July 8, 'Woman delivers on footpath in SoBo after hospitals refuse help.'

In a WhasApp post, Garud wrote that she had arrived from nakabandi. "I was deputed at mobile van no. 1. It was s heavy downpour and one couldn't stand. We had set a nakabandi which ended at 3 am on July 5. I told my staff that I was going to the police station to get some rest. While I was removing my raincoat, my cellphone buzzed with my colleague's call. I answered, she told me 'a senior citizen lady is crying for help at Metro junction, please come here as soon as possible'." When Garud walked to the Metro junction, a woman in her 70s told her a woman was crying for help on the footpath. Garud found the woman was in labour. Garud wrote, "Nobody was going near her due to the Corona pandemic. I went near that woman to find she was in labour pain. She had removed all her clothes too. One of my staff somehow managed and brought clothes and a sheet for her."

The police tried to speak to the woman but she couldn't speak properly. They also felt she had some mental issues. Garud wrote that when the ambulance they called for didn't arrive, some of the cops rushed towards Cama hospital for help. But the RMO told them he couldn't leave the hospital.

'Rodents kept coming'

By the time they returned, the woman had delivered. Garud added in the post, "Meanwhile, rodents started roaming around the woman. We started shooing them away, but they used to come back. We had tried to seek help from Cama hospital thrice. The Control Room was desperately trying to get an ambulance with a doctor. We again went to Cama hospital, requested the doctor to cut the cord and then we would bring the woman to the hospital, but the doctor was reluctant. The doctor said, 'you bring her to the hospital, I can't leave from here'."

Garud wrote, "We came back to Metro, it was 6 am, there was some light now, but it was still raining. A new challenge appeared. Crows started gathering near the spot smelling fresh flesh. Then we noticed, ants had gathered near the cord, and some had climbed on it. Finally, an ambulance came, but there was no doctor in it. After waiting for a while, the driver left saying his duty had ended. We all thought, cops can't have this luxury of saying their duty has ended. By 7 am, an ambulance of 108 came from Prabhadevi region with a doctor. They demanded a PPE kit, which we provided, the doctor kept the baby on the kit and cut the cord. The doctors took both to the hospital where we were told the woman is mentally ill. We all were content as our 3-hour efforts bore fruit. Cops never shy from responsibility saying it's not their work."

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