BENGALURU: As per routine,
Tatte Gowda,
a farmer from Gadedasanahalli in Chintamani taluk of
Chikkaballapur district, headed to his fields on Thursday morning, with his pet dog for company. A flock of crows swooping down on something at the edge of his field drew Gowda’s attention. He rushed to the spot only to find a half-buried
newborn boy wailing.
There were tell-tale signs that the child had been delivered less than an hour ago. “I didn’t know what to do. Recovering from the shock, I first shooed away the crows. My dog helped me. Then I saw my neighbour Ratnamma walking nearby and called her. Asking her to shield the infant from the crows, I ran towards the primary health centre,” he said.
Dr Poornima, the doctor at the health centre one km away, had just arrived. “I explained what had happened. Grabbing her medical kit and emergency medicine, we both ran back. Using a part of her sari as cover, Ratnamma was protecting the newborn. While Dr Poornima was treating the baby, I went back home to collect old clothes and boil some water,” Tatte Gowda said.
Meanwhile, Kuraburu police sub-inspector Byrappa and his staff rushed to the spot. Byrappa alerted child protection unit officer Ramesh N and called for an ambulance.
Dr Poornima found that the newborn’s leg had been fractured by crow bites. “The crow’s beak is hard enough to damage an infant’s bones. Fortunately, the child had no other injuries,” Dr Poornima told police. By then, officer Ramesh arrived on the spot. So did the ambulance.
Ramesh said they will shift the infant to the district hospital in Chintamani. “We will keep him in hospital till he recovers. Also, we will make an announcement in the local media, requesting the parents to come and collect the child. Otherwise, we will contact the child welfare committee and see if arrangements can be made for his adoption,” he said.
Based on the complaint filed by Ramesh, Kuraburu police registered a case under IPC Section 317 (abandonment and exposure of an infant).
