SUBHASH MISHRA
Dhanbad, Oct 20: Theft of an infant from the Shahid Nirmal Mahto Medical College Hospital’s (SNMMCH) compound has put the security system of the hospital under the radar. The infant was still missing on Wednesday morning, 20 hours after the incident.
A two hours old baby girl was stolen out of the labour room of SNMMCH on Tuesday afternoon. Police officials said that Gudia Devi, a resident of Bhuli Township, had delivered a baby at around 1 pm on Tuesday. After the delivery, when the mother was being administered with saline, the infant was given to the grandmother who was waiting outside the labour room.
Another woman was sitting out of the labour room for a long time. As the nurse handed over the infant to the grandmother, the mysterious woman wished to take the child in her lap. After her repeated requests, the grandmother finally gave the infant to the woman after one hour and went to the ward to bring her mobile phone. On returning she found that the woman had vanished with the infant.
She searched for the infant at her own level in the hospital and finally informed the SNMMCH authorities. Saraidhela police station, under which the medical college area falls, was also reported about the missing of the infant from the hospital.
The Officer-in-charge of Saraidhela police station, Kishore Tirki, said today that different teams have been sent to different locations in search of people involved in the crime and the infant is expected to be recovered soon.
“On the basis of CCTV footage of the hospital, special teams have been set up to identify the woman who stole the infant and fled away,” said Kishore Tirki.
The CCTV footage showed that two women were involved in the crime.
SNMMCH superintendent Dr Arun Kumar Barnbal said that the matter is being investigated. “There is a proposal of making a single entry and exit gate at the hospital. There is no sign of lapses on the part of hospital health staff in the incident,” he added.
This is the third time that the security of SNMMCH is being questioned. In July, a mentally challenged woman was raped while in September a youth tried to molest an attendant of a Giridih district patient at this hospital.
