3-day dead baby lies unclaimed, family allege 'baby exchange'

Vijayawada: A three-day-old dead baby has been lying unclaimed in the mortuary for a week, after his alleged parents refused to accept the child, accusing the hospital of switching babies while demanding a DNA test.

A couple namely, Ranjith and Nirmala alleged that their child was exchanged with someone else.

They claimed that the hospital staff had earlier informed them that their baby weighed 1.9 grams, however, after some time, the hospital said that the baby had to be transferred to the special care unit due to being underweight.

As per their claim, the hospital replied that the baby's weight decreased by 400 grams after the diaper was removed. The parents further claimed that the baby is not the one they had originally seen.

After two days, on November 12, the hospital informed the two that the child had died.

Ranjith while talking to the media alleged that the dead child was not his son and that's why he has denied taking the body. He has also demanded a DNA test in the case.

"The child was born at 1:22 pm on the 9th of this month, as per the hospital records, we joined at 4:05 pm. I am suspicious of changing ID numbers repeatedly. Also, a female child was entered instead of a male child in the prescription for taking blood samples. In the background of so many suspicions, I believe that the dead child is not my child, but my child has been changed. I will not bury the child in the mortuary till the DNA report comes," Ranjith told ANI.

However, as per the hospital, the baby change is not likely to have happened. The baby was underweight, was kept in incubation and died due to organ failure, The Superintendent of Government Hospital, Saubhagyalakshmi, told ANI that she came to know about the incident only through the media.

"By getting the details, we have a clear-cut picture that nothing wrong happened. It is true that our doctors and staff have made some mistakes. Our staff made a mistake regarding the change in the birth time of the child and also in changing ID numbers. They even mistakenly mentioned that it is a girl child in the blood samples prescription. If the father demanded the video of the child, then it is our fault that they didn't give the video." However, she said that baby change is not likely to have happened and they are also ready for the DNA test.

"The baby change is not likely to have happened. I will take action on the mistakes made by our doctors and staff. We are also ready for a DNA test. It takes 45 days to get the report, and till then we have all the facilities to preserve the dead body of the child," she further said.

The police also reacted to the incident and said that the matter is being investigated. Circle Inspector Suresh told ANI that they have asked Ranjith to go for the DNA test, and that 'no conviction' is possible with the given statement.

"A person named Ranjith came to our police station on November 14, for filing a case against the government hospital doctors and staff. We have called the doctors and hospital staff to the police station for enquiring about the incident. We have collected the information from them and have sent the statement copies to both superintendents of government hospitals. They are ready to conduct DNA test. We have asked Ranjith to go for the test, as we cannot register a case without conviction," he said.