Who abandoned this infant at Marine Drive? No information yet on parents

The month-old baby found abandoned at Marine Drive

Thanks to non-functional CCTVs, the police haven't managed to find out who abandoned a month-old girl on the tetrapods at Marine Drive last month.

A newly-married couple in their 20s had found the girl and handed her over to the police, after nursing her for a couple of days but failing to see any improvement in her health. The couple, residents of Kalina, had also launched their own hunt for the parents with the help of neighbours by circulating the infant's picture on WhatsApp, but they had to give up the search after they started getting queries from people and other couples asking how much the baby was being sold for. The girl is currently in the care of a rescue home in Dongri.

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Cry for help
Explaining the case, the Marine Drive police, who are looking into the matter, said Sumit and Divya Choudhary, on an evening stroll at the Marine Drive promenade on July 15, had stumbled upon the baby girl.

Around 3 pm that day, when the two were searching for a dry place to sit on after a drizzle, they came near Meghdoot Bridge and found a spot. Within seconds, they heard the cries of a baby. As there was no one around, Divya insisted that Sumit go and check where the cries were coming from.

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"I got up and started looking between the tetrapods; I noticed a red cloth. When I looked at closely, I realised it was a baby bundled up. The infant was completely soaked. Just then, another shower started; so, I picked up the child and we ran below the bridge," Sumit told mid-day, adding that day they took the baby home.

On reaching their home in Kada wadi, Kalina, Sumit narrated the incident to his neighbours; one woman volunteered to massage the newborn. "I went to the market and brought milk, and we fed the child through cotton. Neighbours clicked pictures and circulated them via WhatsApp, appealing to people to come forward if they knew anything about the baby. But then, calls started pouring in asking for the baby's price," said Sumit.

"Some people were offering as much as Rs 2 lakh for the infant; some asked for the address to send the money to for the baby.

"The matter was getting out of hand, and even the baby's health was deteriorating… Her body had turned pale."

In cop custody
Two days later, on July 17, the couple went to Vakola police station and narrated the incident. Officers admitted the baby to a hospital after it was found that she had contracted jaundice.

The Vakola police informed their Marine Drive counterparts and transferred the case on July 27.

"A DNA test was done to cross-check the couple's claims, and it was confirmed that neither of the two was biologically related to the child," said an officer, adding that after that a probe was launched to zero in on the parents.

"We checked the CCTV cameras installed on the stretch, but those covering the place where the baby found were non-functional," said an officer. "We are checking other CCTV cameras in the area for clues."

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The baby, in the care of Asha Sadan Rescue Home in Dongri, has been named Shravani, as she was brought there in the month of Shravan.

Another officer said, "We questioned the hawkers who frequent the area, but they don't have any information. DNA has been extracted to ascertain her identity; age determination will be done soon to find out her day of birth."

A case has been registered against unknown person/s under IPC section 317 (exposure and abandonment of child under 12 years by parent or person having care of it).

Rs 2 lakh
Price some people offered the couple for the baby

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