The Kokrajhar district police have arrested a doctor who performed a Caesarean section, which meant Sarmila Basumatary, along with her husband, selling her newborn child for Rs. 7,000 to meet part of the expenses incurred on the delivery in a government hospital.
Deputy Commissioner Donald Gilfellon said Dr. Joynal Abedin was arrested following evidence which corroborated the allegations levelled against him in a first information report lodged by Prateek Hajela, Mission Director of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), Assam, with the Superintendent of Police on Sunday. While the couple got back their child after the media complained of doctors and staff of the Rup Nath Brahma government hospital flouting norms of the new healthcare scheme that entitles a pregnant woman free delivery in a government hospital, help came pouring in for them, thanks to the initiative of a Kokrajhar-based NGO — North East Research and Social Networking (NERSWN) and a Facebook group opened by Manjib Mochahari, a research scholar of the Tata Institute of Social Science, Mumbai, and Tenison Basumatary of Tezpur Central University.
NERSWN volunteers raised donations of Rs. 15,000 and an account was opened in Sarmila's name with the Kokrajhar branch of the State Bank of India, Raju Narzary, executive director of the NGO, told The Hindu .
Mr. Mochahari, who hails from Udalguri district, raised Rs. 8,000 more in just two days, by opening a Facebook group, “A Baby Boy Needs You.”
“Since there was no account in the child's name, close friends of mine in the group, who came forward to help, decided to deposit the money in my account, for giving the couple, after an account is opened in the child's name. Many other members of the group have also come forward to help the child,” said Mr. Mochahari, who is doing research on media and conflict.
“We can't feel the agony of the parents, but we can help reduce their pain. Let's see them smile, once again,” said the appeal for fundraising, posted on the FB group with 1,047 members.
