Jaipur:
Baby Damini, who was brought to a Jaipur hospital two weeks ago as a malnourished and critically ill one-month-old, will be discharged today. Doctors say Baby Damini is now a healthier 2 kg and well enough to go home with her father, Babloo, who is a rickshaw-puller.
Damini was taken to the Fortis hospital in Jaipur on October 20. She had spent the first few days of her life slung around her father's neck as he rode a rickshaw in Rajasthan's Bharatpur; her mother had died in childbirth on September 15, and there was no one to care for the baby at home. She was anaemic and weighed a paltry 1.4 kg. Being out all day in the elements had taken its toll on the tiny baby, who was diagnosed with pneumonia and other infections.
While her father is now keen to take her home, doctors have advised against it in view of a serious risk of infections that Damini is prone to for the next one year. The state Child Welfare Committee wants the baby to be kept at a
shishu griha (child welfare home) at least during the winters.
Babloo had been spotted hauling his cycle rickshaw with his newborn daughter attached in a makeshift sling to his chest and NDTV first reported on the plight of the father-daughter duo. There was then a massive outpouring of support with many offers for help from NDTV viewers and surfers. Donations of about Rs 14 lakh poured in from across the world to help the distraught father. Following intense media coverage of the story, the Rajasthan government offered to cover all Damini's medical expenses. A few NGOs near Babloo's home had reportedly offered to keep the child in daycare, but Babloo wasn't willing to part with her.