Born on the street, she now needs a home

New Delhi: It was perhaps a miracle that Ritu found newborn baby Karishma - at a time when her mother Lakshmi died just four days after giving birth on the busy street of Connaught Place.

But now, another miracle may be needed for Karishma to live with her saviour.

"I would love to bring up the child. Her mother had begged me to look after the child. I convinced my brother, sister and the authorities to keep her but they are refusing to give me the child. They say there is a huge queue," said Ritu.

The little girl is living in an orphanage, and it's still not clear if the lady who named her Karishma will be given the right to bring her up.

Ritu, a shop owner, says she did what she could when she saw the baby hours after it was born.

"Nobody bothered to look after her, but I took care of the baby and yes I gave food to her mother," she said.

"She gave birth to the child right here on the pavement. Even we did not get to know that a child is born," said Kashi, a street dweller.

A post-mortem report has confirmed that Karishma's mother Lakshmi died of a septic infection.