Bangalore:
Lalithamma, who delivered a baby boy in Vani Vilas Hospital on September 6, found her child missing on September 7. The inconsolable mother now seems to have become unstable and is currently being treated in Shimoga mental hospital.
"Now I pray to God not to give this kind of tragedy to anyone else," said her grieving husband, Nagaraj.
The couple, residents of Mapireddypalya of Gobbur village, of Raichur's Devadurga taluk, was blessed with a child after seven years of marriage. They came to Bangalore eight months ago and were working as labourers in a building construction in Chandra Layout. When the baby went missing, the hospital authorities reportedly told the mother to take care of the child herself as they were not responsible for any such child missing.
Lalitha alleged that a woman in her mid-20s, masquerading as a doctor, told the parents that the child had some boils which could be cured with an oil that she could provide. Taking advantage of Lalitha's innocence, the woman returned the next day around 6.30 am and took the baby to apply the oil and never returned.
When the family tried to file a complaint with the Victoria Hospital police station, the police refused take it up saying that it could be done only by the hospital superintendent. However, two-and-a-half months after the complaint being lodged, the baby is still missing. The hospital claims that the lack of CCTV cams in the ward makes it difficult to nab the culprit. Medical superintendent OS Siddappa said that there are no cameras in the ward or at its entrance.
Siddappa assured that apart from the 12 cameras installed in the hospital, more would be installed in the wards and the monitor screens would be fixed outside the wards for the families to check on the new entrants.
They are also planning to introduce the new system of wrist bands for the mother and child, which will alert the people with a siren if the baby is taken a certain distance away from the mother. Siddappa said that it is difficult to keep an eye on each of the 20,000 patients being treated in the hospital, where there is staff enough for only 10,000 patients.
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