Dhaka, Dec 22 – The baby born during his mother’s suicide in India’s Bhopal Katni town early Thursday died on Friday. Doctors at a government hospital fought for nearly 32 hours to save his life but in vain, reports Indian daily the Times of India.
Prolonged exposure to cold proved fatal — no one knows when the mother, Laxmi, hanged herself and how long the baby was exposed to the elements after the shock ejection from the womb.
SI Kavita Sahni, who was first on the scene, and had cleaned up the baby and tried to keep it warm till medical help arrived, was stunned. “I am heartbroken. Despite all our efforts, we couldn’t save the baby. If only we had got information about the suicide sooner. We took action as soon as we arrived.
There was no delay on our part,” she told the daily. Police believe there was a lag of at least half an hour between her husband finding the body and police getting the call.
Sahni and her team had found the baby dangling by his umbilical cord, with the mother died at the end of a rope in a cowshed at 7 am on Thursday. There was a cold wave sweeping the state then, and Katni was shivering at 7 degrees on Thursday morning. It was Sahni who placed the baby on a sheet, wrapped it up and tried to keep him warm.
The infant boy was brought in with hypothermia A video of the suicide scene shows the baby frozen in foetal position as a doctor cuts his umbilical cord. The baby was admitted to Katni government hospital.
“His condition is unpredictable. The baby has serious breathing trouble. We are trying our best, but chances of his survival are slim,” Dr S K Sharma, the civil surgeon at Katni government hospital, had said.
“The infant was brought in with extreme hypothermia. God knows how long he was dangling in that condition,” said Dr Neelam Soni, who was treating the newborn.
Police are yet to find a motive for his mother’s suicide. Police did not know that the victim, 36-year-old Laxmi Thakur, was nine months pregnant when they got the distress call. – UNB
