"The baby reminded me of my 10-month-old daughter. When I saw her, I felt like feeding her and asked doctors if I could nurse her."
On the morning of 16 January, 2019, a one-day-old baby girl was found abandoned and bitten by ants at the GVK campus in the Yelahanka area of Bengaluru,
Rescued from the roadside where she lay shivering in the cold, a group of civil defence wardens took her to a nearby government hospital.
After receiving intravenous (IV) fluid therapy, the infant was initially fed formula milk. Eventually, Sangitha S Halimani, a 25-year-old constable with the Bengaluru Police, volunteered to breastfeed her, according to the Times of India.
“The baby reminded me of my 10-month-old daughter. When I saw her, I felt like feeding her and asked doctors if I could nurse her. She seemed like a healthy child though she was bitten by ants,” the police constable told TOI.
Failing to understand how any parent could abandon their child like that in the open, particularly on a cold winter morning, she fed the baby for a good 10-15 minutes—an act of compassion and humanity.
Also Read: Thanks to This MBA Grad, Thousands of Indian Moms Can Now Breastfeed Without Fear!
Doctors at the government hospital confirmed to the national publication that the infant weighing 2.7 kg was suffering from hypothermia, low glucose levels and was extremely vulnerable to infection. They fear that she could contract Septicaemia, a serious bloodstream infection.
The infant has been shifted to the Vanivilas Hospital, and is being treated in the neonatal intensive care unit. Following treatment, she will be handed over to the Women and Child Welfare Department and put into the system.
This isn’t the first time Bengaluru city police personnel have gone beyond the call of duty.
In June last year, DS Archana, also a lady constable, won over the internet after she breastfed an abandoned baby. At the time, even the Chief Minister had congratulated and praised her.
Also Read: Bengaluru Lady Constable Goes Beyond Duty, Breastfeeds Abandoned Newborn!
(Edited by Gayatri Mishra)
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