Nidhi was shifted from the General Hospital in Ernakulam to a child-care institute after being deemed healthy enough on 10 April, 2025. Her mother gave birth to Nidhi prematurely at the General Hospital and then went missing shortly afterwards on January 29.
| Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT
Nidhi, a baby girl abandoned in a city hospital earlier this year and now in the care of a child care institute, and her parents from Jharkhand had a virtual reunion on Wednesday thanks to a videoconference session organised at the institute with the permission of the Ernakulam district Child Welfare Committee (CWC).
The videoconference was arranged by the Ernakulam Town North police, who had registered a case against the girl’s parents for abandoning her shortly after her birth. The inadvertent discovery of the parents occurred during a national-level police badminton tournament hosted by the city with the help of a police contingent from Jharkhand that took part in the tournament.
“One of the officers happened to be from near the baby’s parents’ place, and we were able to contact them. They claimed that they had been forced to abandon the baby because they could not afford the medical expenses at a private hospital. The parents requested a videoconference to confirm that the baby was their own and that she was alive,” said P.P. Reji, sub-inspector, Town North.
The parents became emotional after seeing their baby online and agreed to come to Kochi to receive her. The police have decided to wait for a few days for the parents to arrive, in which case, the case against them may be dropped on humanitarian grounds. Otherwise, charges will be pressed, and a team will be sent to Jharkhand to bring them in.
The parents have been booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Sections 93 (exposure and abandonment of child under twelve years, by parents or person having care of it) and 3(5) (when a criminal act is done by several persons in furtherance of the common intention of all) and the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act Section 75 (cruelty to child).
“Even if the parents turn up, we will hand over the child only after ensuring her safety and that the parents are capable of taking care of her,” said Vincent Joseph, CWC chairperson.
Nidhi was shifted from Ernakulam General Hospital (GH) to the child care institute after being deemed healthy enough last Thursday. Her mother gave birth to her prematurely, at just 28 weeks into the pregnancy, at GH, and then went missing shortly afterwards on January 29. In the nine weeks since, she has transformed from an anaemic baby weighing only 950 grams to a relatively healthy one weighing 2.50 kilograms.
Nidhi’s mother was rushed to GH after developing labour pain when the train reached Ernakulam on January 29, while she and her husband were on their way to Jharkhand. They worked at a fish farm in Kottayam. Shortly after the delivery, the baby was transferred to a private hospital in the city for specialised care. However, the parents went missing soon after the mother was discharged. The baby was then shifted back to GH.
Published – April 17, 2025 12:45 am IST
