Baby Nidhi, who was abandoned by her parents 22 days after her birth at a Kerala hospital in January, has boarded a train back to her home in Jharkhand.
Officials of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) in Ernakulam handed over the six-month-old to their counterparts in Jharkhand who are expected to reunite her with parents Mangleswar Oraon and Ranjitha, both migrant workers. The CWC will keep a tab on Nidhi till she turns 18.
On Monday, Nidhi slept in the arms of Ernakulam district child protection officer K.S. Sini as they boarded the Alappuzha-Dhanbad Express from the Ernakulam South station. Sini, along with her colleague Shano Jose and two special juvenile police officers, will reach Jharkhand on Wednesday.
“Her parents are keen to have her. Our satisfaction is that the Jharkhand CWC will be checking on her frequently,” M.D. Remya, a member of the CWC in Ernakulam, told The Telegraph.
The Lohardaga couple, who worked at a fishing farm in Kottayam, were on their way to Jharkhand when Ranjitha went into labour and was rushed to a hospital in Kochi. When the couple realised that they needed at least ₹2 lakh for their daughter's neonatal treatment, they abandoned her and fled. The Ernakulam General Hospital took care of the baby. Kerala health minister Veena George named her Nidhi, meaning treasure.
