Odisha: Good Samaritan rescues 6-day-old abandoned baby in the dead of night

A woman rescued a six-day-old boy abandoned on a road in a cold winter night inOdishas Kandhamal district, an official said on Monday.

She found the infant, who was crying and shivering incold though wrapped in a piece of cloth, on the roadside neara school in Phulbani town on late Sunday night.

The 42-year-old Dalit woman took the baby home,tended him and later handed him over to Childline officials.

The boy, who was apparently six days old, washospitalised, said Suprava Nayak, a counsellor of Childline.

The woman and her daughter were returning home from arelative's place at around 11.30 pm when they found the child.

After taking him home, they kept him warm by lighting a fireand called up the Childline number 1098 to report the matter,Nayak said.

A Childline team reached her home at around 2.30 am,took the baby from her and admitted him to a governmenthospital.

The baby has been kept in a ventilator and hiscondition is critical, attending doctors said.

Following a complaint lodged by Childline, the policeare investigating the case.

It is suspected that after the birth of the child, hismother kept him with her for five days, before abandoning him.

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