Rajasthan: Newborn's lips glued shut, stone inserted to silence cries
What's the story
In a shocking incident in Rajasthan's Bhilwara district, a 15-day-old baby was found abandoned in a forest in inhumane condition. His lips had been sealed with glue and a stone had been inserted into his mouth to muffle his cries. The child was writhing near a pile of stones when he was found by a cattle grazer near the Sita Ka Kund temple in Mandalgarh, PTI reported.
Medical intervention
Baby has been sent to hospital for treatment
After the cattle grazer spotted the infant, he alerted locals who removed the stone from his mouth. They then rushed him to a government hospital in Bijolia for treatment. Doctors have confirmed that there are adhesive marks on both his mouth and thighs. The police said, "The baby is about 15 to 20 days old and is under treatment."
Abandonment cases
Similar cases of infant abandonment in recent days
This incident comes on the heels of other recent cases of abandoned infants across India. Earlier this month, a five-month-old girl was found abandoned in Chandigarh. A taxi driver had spotted her crying in bushes and took her to a police station. In Jharkhand's Jamtara district, another infant was found dumped in a drain with fractured hands but is now stable.
National concern
Disturbing trend of child abandonment across India
In June, a two-day-old baby was found abandoned outside an orphanage in Panvel's Takka area. The baby was left with a note citing "mental and financial hardships" as reasons for abandonment. "At first, we thought it was a kitten or puppy crying," a local resident said. "But when we looked closer, we were stunned. It was a newborn baby — shivering, wrapped in a blanket, clearly hungry." The parents were later asked to take the child back.