On a recent Sunday morning, the Indira Gandhi Memorial Maternity Hospital in Agartala was unusually crowded. Women and children thronged the corridors of the children’s ward. This is the best medical facility in the city for mother-and-baby-care. On its second floor, an anxious woman waited just outside the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The nursing staff knew her well – Monty Saha had been a fixture at the hospital for more than two weeks.

The woman was weeping. When approached, she just turned her face and pleaded, “Please give my child……. please give my child.”

The child was admitted in the ICU. Monty Saha had not given birth to this child. Her brother-in-law had found the child deserted by a roadside, 15 days ago. This is a story where humanity and affection triumph over cruelty and indifference. And, a story of the callousness of doctors, and the inhumanity of the state machinary.

A nurse said, “Monty Saha did not go home for a single minute for the last 15 days. She stayed inside the hospital and stood for hours outside the ICU. When the visitors’ time opened, she entered the ward and stood beside the bed of the child, sometimes tenderly caressing the baby.”

One of the ICU nurses said, “The name of the child is not yet decided, but the staff of the ICU have named him ‘Karna’ – the Mahabharata character. The child’s birth story is similar to Karna’s.” Most of us know how Karna turned out; but what will be the fate of this baby? No one can tell.

The story:
The story of this baby began on July 11 this year, Madan Saha, Monty’s husband, said. “My elder brother, Bhajan Saha – he’s a well-known businessman of Ranirbazar (10 km east of Agartala) – was on his usual morning walk, accompanied by some friends. On their way home, they heard the sound of a child crying, from the bushes along the roadside. First they were inclined to ignore it. But finally they searched in the bushes, only to find a just-delivered baby. His body was covered with blood and birth fluids.”

The mother had abandoned the baby – the obvious conclusion among onlookers seemed to be that the child was born out of wedlock, and the social stigma led to the abandonment. The news spread like wildfire in the neighbourhood. Many people rushed to see the baby, but no one seemed to want to help, except Bhajan Saha, who took the child to his home.

Madan Saha, the younger brother of Bhajan Saha, and his wife Monty Saha, decided to keep the child as their own. Bhajan Saha conveyed his brother’s decision to the villagers, who agreed.

Madan Saha and his wife Monty started taking care of the baby as one of their own. But the baby’s health was deteriorating, and he needed urgent medical attention. The couple went to the hospital, but faced a new problem.

First, the doctors would not attend to the baby, even though he was in a critical condition. The doctors said the couple didn’t have legal custody of the baby, and the police would have to be informed before he was taken away. The couple reported everything to police to pave the way for treatment, but two hours had lapsed without medical attention for the baby, whose condition became more critical. Only after seeing the acknowledgement from the police did the doctors attend to the baby and shift him to the ICU.

Meanwhile, the police informed the Child Welfare Committee of Agartala about the matter. Authorities now said the couple couldn’t keep the baby, as they already had children. Dr. Bikash Roy, a renowned child specialist of Agartala and the chairman of the committee said, “Those couples that already have their own children cannot adopt children again. It’s a rule. So the baby who is now in the ICU will go on to a child-care home, and later, if any childless couple wants to adopt him, the adoption can be legally processed.”

Upon hearing this, Madan and Monty Saha burst into tears. They had brought the child home and taken care of him at a time when nobody stepped forward to do it, they said. Nobody had raised any legal concerns then, they pointed out, adding, “We will keep the child at any cost. For the child we will fight any battle, but we want him.”

They continue their vigil outside the intensive care unit.

By Tanmoy Chakraborty