Sishu Bhavan in Cuttack

Cuttack, May 28: The Sishu Bhavan authorities today sought the help of local police to trace a couple who have abandoned their newborn girl there.

Hospital sources said Bhakta Pradhan and his wife Mamata Pradhan of Jagatsinghpur have left the girl child at the Sishu Bhavan’s old medical ward on Sunday evening.

“The child is barely two-days-old,” said a source at the hospital.

The couple might have abandoned the girl child because she was weak at the time of birth because of a premature delivery. Her weight at the time of delivery was 1.5kg. However, her condition is reportedly stable now. Doctors at the hospital are taking care of the girl child.

“We have lodged a police complaint. Last week, another couple had abandoned a stillborn child on the hospital premises. Later, the couple was traced with the assistance of police and the body was handed over for necessary cremation,” said a hospital official.

The couple from Jagatsinghpur had come with the newborn girl and left her inside the ward last evening. “The woman had taken all her belongings except the baby, who was very weak when she was admitted here yesterday,” said a staff nurse.

Attendants at the hospital said that they had not seen any male companion with the woman, who appeared to be in her twenties. She appeared to be tensed throughout her stay at the ward.

It is also suspected that the couple might not have entered their real names and address in the hospital’s register to avoid being traced by the authorities.