Patna zoo animal-keeper Baidnath Paswan and his family with the child at his house in Forest Colony on Thursday. Picture by Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, Aug. 25: When she was abandoned, she only had a white cloth to protect her. But her cries attracted a Good Samaritan, who decided to take care of her.

Baidnath Paswan, an animal-keeper at Patna zoo, was walking past the fern house yesterday afternoon, when he heard the cry of an infant. On looking back, he spotted her abandoned in a bush.

“I heard the cries of a baby, as I was passing by the fern house. I spotted the abandoned newborn in the bushes. She was wrapped in a white cloth, and crying. I lifted her and took her to the zoo director,” said Baidnath.

Patna zoo director Abhay Kumar was surprised to see the infant. He was in a state of shock when Baidnath sought permission from Abhay to take care of the child.

“At first, we checked if the infant was okay, and fed her some milk. Then, we reported the incident to police. Baidnath kept requesting me to allow him to take care of the girl. As there was no other claimant at that time, a written request was given to the police to allow him to take possession of the baby,” said Abhay.

He added: “Afterwards, I received four requests from people who want to adopt the child. Most of the requests are from well-to-do families.”

A visitor to the zoo, on the condition of anonymity, said he had seen a girl from a well-to-do family sitting near Gate No. 2 that afternoon. “The girl was crying, and had a newborn in her arms. She was also feeding the baby milk from a bottle,” he said. Sources said the girl was probably the mother of the newborn and abandoned her in the bush.

For Baidnath, the infant is God-sent. “My son has been married for the past 12 years but he and my daughter-in-law do not have a child yet. I feel this newborn is a gift from God for my family and me,” said the animal keeper, who takes care of rhinoceroses and Nilgais at the zoo.

After registering a case, the police handed over the newborn to Baidnath. “We are investigating the identity of the child. In the meanwhile, we have given the possession of the infant to Baidnath, as he was eager to keep her. He has been given permission to take care of the upbringing and education of the child. He has also been asked to return her in case her relatives claim her in the coming days,” said the officer in-charge of Secretariat police station.

The officer added that there were a few other enquiries about the abandoned child. Some people had wanted to adopt her.

Abhay said around 10 years ago, a newborn boy had been abandoned in the zoo. He had good foster parents later.