Pourakarmikas pick up what the city discards and early Wednesday, they stumbled upon a heart-wrenching reject dumped in a carton — a tiny baby boy shrivelled up by the cold.
The pourakarmikas, who were cleaning the parking lot on the 10th Main Road in the busy Jayanagar Shopping Complex's parking area, found the six-day-old infant wrapped in a cloth around 7 a.m. They told about their find to some shopkeepers nearby who called the Jayanagar police.
“To ensure that the baby does not develop any health complications, we immediately shifted it to Vani Vilas Hospital where it will be kept for a day or two. After due procedure, it will then be handed over to an NGO, which adopts abandoned babies,” said a Jayanagar police official.
Doctors at the Vani Vilas Hospital said the baby weighed 2.2 kg and was healthy. “There are no injuries or insect bites on the body. When it was brought to us, the body temperature was slightly low. This may be because he could have been abandoned in the early hours when the temperature is cold. We have kept him warm,” said Resident Medical Officer Shakuntala N.B.
She said the baby was under the care of paediatricians and would be kept under observation for a day or two.
The Jayanagar police have registered a case against the unidentified persons under Section 317 (exposure and abandonment of children under 12 years, by parent or person having care of it) and are investigating.