A newborn boy was found abandoned in crowded Ghoshpara Bazar, in Bally, on Friday morning. The baby was lying near a garbage dump and crows were pecking at him.

The boy was admitted to Howrah District Hospital. The superintendent of the hospital said his condition was stable.

According to local residents, around 10am, six-year-old Raja Mukherjee first noticed the baby lying on the road near his house, wrapped in a cloth. He informed his parents Kartick and Rina. They rushed out and brought the baby home.

Rina said: “The baby was lying barely a few yards from our house. Some crows were pecking at him by the time I got there. I ran home with the baby.”

She and her sister-in-law Jayati Mukherjee washed the infant with hot water and tended to the wounds inflicted by the birds.

“I cannot imagine how anyone could dump a newborn near our home in daylight,” said Jayati.

Around 11am, police took the baby to Kedarnath Hospital in Bally, where the paediatric department has been closed for more than a year. The baby was then taken to TL Jaiswal Hospital, where the authorities refused to admit him, citing lack of infrastructure. The baby was shifted to the district hospital.

A large number of people had gathered at Ghoshpara Bazar to adopt the baby.

Raja’s father Kartick said: “A man even offered me money to hand over the baby to him. I told him that he would have to go through the legal process of adoption.”