In a land where a boy child is envied, coveted and stolen, this might well do the trick. Following a baby theft case, the police in Puducherry has mooted tagging the newborns and their mothers with unique Radio Frequency IDs, which can prevent stealing as well as swapping by mistake while the baby is in the hospital. The idea was suggested as the police here were left with a girl child, whose mother had swapped her for a boy, and refused to take her back after they tracked her down. The boy was returned to his biological parents. “The RFID tags will be attached as soon as the baby is born and an identical one will be attached to the mother. The sensors at the door will alert the staff or the mother whenever the child is taken out of the ward,” Dr K S V K Subba Rao, Director, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer), Puducherry, told The Indian Express. In April this year, there was a baby swapping case in Chennai in which the doctors had to resort to DNA test to confirm the identity of the parents beyond doubts. Though it was an error by the hospital staff that lead to the confusion, the situation was made worse by one family who refused to part with the boy. In May, when the police in Erode found a ragpicker, Papa, walking with a boy child, they picked the mother and child and took them to the government hospital there. Another woman there, who had lost her boy a day before, claimed it was hers. Again DNA tests were conducted and Papa was proved to be the child’s mother, after considerable hardships and anxiety. Earlier this week, Alamelu’s newborn boy child was stolen from Jipmer and a girl child was left in his place. Police traced Saritha, a 29-year-old, who had given birth to the girl; this was her third girl child. Even after being tracked, Saritha refused to take back her baby. Her family had warned her of the consequences of returning home with another girl. Senior Superintendent of Police, B Srikanth, said that the police have taken up the girl’s welfare as their responsibility. “Sadly, a girl is not welcomed in the families here. The real effort should be to remove this stigma towards the girl. Without that social awakening, all these are but superficial,” said Dr Rao, pointing out Saritha’s case. Meanwhile, a police team has been sent to Saritha’s house to convince them to accept the daughter-in-law and the child back to the family. Hearing the news of the abandoned child, a couple from Chennai has come forward to adopt her as they are childless. According to the would-be grandfather, they were all waiting for a girl as “they prove more supportive to parents than boys.”
