BIRGUNJ, Feb 6: A newborn baby, who had disappeared from Birgunj-based Narayani Sub-regional Hospital, has been recovered from Belwa of Parsa district two days later on Sunday. 

The newborn had disappeared from the hospital's maternity ward at around 2 pm on Friday just two hours after being born. The male child belongs to Mukesh Paswan and his wife Asha Devi of Chapkaiya-1. 

Police, on Sunday morning, found the newborn from the house of Bindeshwar Sah, a local of Belwa-9. The child was then returned to the family. “The child has been handed over to the family without any harm. We can give additional information only after further investigation,” informed Deputy Inspector of Police Chakra Raj Joshi.

The newborn's mother suspects the involvement of a woman of fair complexion wearing a red colored striped shawl, who was spotted at the maternity ward, in stealing the child. “She went near the baby. I was busy clearing the blood-stained clothes used during delivery. I could hear the baby cry until that time. When I turned around to take a look at the baby, it was already gone,” said Asha Devi.

After the incident, the atmosphere had remained tensed in and around the hospital as family members of the newborn staged protests. They had burnt a tyre in front of the hospital on Saturday, following which, police promised to find the missing child within three days.
Although seven surveillance cameras were installed in the hospital last year for monitoring, those CCTV cameras are no longer functional, making the police investigation more difficult.

The child was born with weakened condition. Suspecting that the child's health has deteriorated further after two days of disappearance, he has been now been admitted to Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) for intensive care, according to doctors.

 
• newborn baby
 
• narayani sub-regional hospital
 
• found