A hand to help rock the cradle

Prem and her three-month-old daughter Santoshi were the first to come to Jehangirpuri’s 10-bed home. She came here on the inaugural day,February 8. Suneeta (24) and her son joined Prem only last Saturday.

The centre comes under the Department of Woman and Child Welfare.

“Prem’s medical records from the DDU Hospital,where she was taken by the police,state she was a victim of sexual violence,and show symptoms of mental disorder. She came to us in a disheveled state from the Nirmal Chhaya home,with her infant daughter,” says Latika Dahiya,who is in charge of the centre.

A month later,Prem is beginning to settle down.

“I was married at a very young age. I have no idea of my age,” she says. DDU records have noted her age as 20+.

“My husband and my mother-in-law used to beat me a lot. I was tired of it,so I ran away to a local temple,” says Prem. The temple ‘baba’,she says,let her stay with him for a few months,before he brought her to the Capital and abandoned her.

“I found I was going to have a baby after a few weeks. The police took me to the Nirmal Chhaya home,” she adds.

“I did not go to my parent’s house after my husband threw me out because I was scared. When my daughter grows up a little,I will take her to meet her grandparents.”

Dahiya is proud of the progress Prem has made since she came to the home. “She came here in dirty clothes and refused to wash herself initially. Now she bathes and washes without fail.”

The centre’s new resident,Suneeta says she has found peace here. “Nirmal Chhaya,where I stayed before,was overcrowded. I had to fight with others for hot water,even days before my delivery,” she recalls.

Burn marks are prominent on her face and hands. Her mother,she says,burnt her after her husband ran away with her sister-in-law.

“I came to Delhi to get my wounds treated. My husband knew I was going to have a baby,but he left me at my parents’ house and ran away,” she trails off.

Doctors in Delhi government mobile vans visit the two lactating mothers on alternate days,but no doctor is posted at the centre or at the 14-bed similar institution in Sarai Rohilla.

“The Babu Jagjivan Ram Hospital is close by,and we have a tie-up with them for pregnancy emergencies,” says Geetika Sharma,joint director of the Women and Child Welfare department.

The visiting doctors,meanwhile,provide regular vaccination for the children and supplementary nutrition tablets to the mothers.

A month after its opening,the Sarai Rohilla institution still does not have residents. The department says it is trying to spread awareness about the two centres.

“We have put up advertisements around railway stations,where quite a number of destitute women are usually found. We have also written to the Joint Commissioner (Operations) of the police to inform all police stations. We hope more women will be brought to our facility soon,” says Sharma.