Newborn child of deceased unmarried woman dies

Kumar Rajiv Nayan

Ara : A newborn male child of an unmarried woman breathed his last at the Neo-Natal Intensive Care Unit at Ara Sadar Hospital on September 11, 2017, shattering the dream of his maternal grandmother Manti Devi to bring him up. His mother had died on September 8 at Ara Sadar Hospital where she was admitted after delivering the baby at her home at village Jaisidih under Piro police station in Bhojpur district on September 7. His biological father had already deserted his mother.

Dr Binod Kumar of Ara Sadar Hospital said that the child was very weak since his birth and weighed only 1.3 kg at the time of birth as he was born before time.

The woman, a native of village Jaisidih village, fell in love came with Shailendra Chaudhary, son of Lal Babu Chaudhary of Saripur village under Piro police station and developed relationship with him. Shailendra Chaudhary outraged her modesty for 10 month with a promise to marry her and when she became pregnant, he refused to marry her.

Her family members put pressure on her for abortion but she refused hoping Shailendra might accept them after delivery. The family members did not take her to the hospital due to social stigma and she gave birth to the child at her father’s residence at Jaisidih. But, when her condition deteriorated, her family members rushed her to Ara Sadar Hospital where she died on September 8 due  to profuse bleeding. Her parents had lodged a named FIR against Shailendra with Piro police station on August 26, 2017, after which police arrested him and sent him to jail.