9-month-old girl abandoned by mother in Ranchi; airlifted to Delhi hospital in critical condition

A nine-month-old girl, who was allegedly thrown into a well by her mother in Ranchi, was rescued and airlifted to a hospital in Delhi on Monday, where she is battling for her life, officials said.

The condition of the infant is "critical" and she has been "kept on a ventilator" in a pediatric ICU at the Sir Ganga Ram Hospital (SGRH) here, they said.

"The baby was flown from Ranchi to Delhi, and then taken to the SGRH through a green corridor in a critical condition," a senior official of the hospital said.

According to the Delhi Traffic Police, to save her life, a 12-km green corridor was created from Indira Gandhi International Airport's Terminal 1-D to the hospital, "covering a distance of 12 kilometres in 13 minutes".

"The girl was immediately transferred into an ambulance. The convoy started at 5.10 pm and reached Sir Ganga Ram Hospital at 5.23 pm in 13 minutes which would have otherwise taken around 45 minutes during peak hours," a senior police official said.

According to the attendants of the baby, she was thrown into a well by her mother, who is undergoing treatment for "past-partum psychosis (post delivery depression)" in Ranchi, on the afternoon of February 1, sources at the SGRH told PTI.

"The baby was immediately rescued and then taken to the nearest hospital, where she was declared dead. However, later she was taken to a bigger hospital, and CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) was performed on her, after which she was revived," a source said.

The SGRH was then contacted, and an airlift facility was sought for the baby.

"The girl was airlifted to Delhi on ventillator and then through a green corridor brought to our hospital," the SGRH official said.

"The condition of the girl is critical and she is kept on a ventilator in a pediatric ICU. Her condition is being closely monitored," said Dr Anil Sachdev, Director, Pediatric Emergency and Intensive Care, SGRH.