An investigation is being launched in India after parents claim their child was declared dead and thrown into a trash can — despite being alive the whole time.
According to the Times of India, father Abdul Bhatin and mother Nazma Khan were expecting their sixth child together when Khan went into premature labor. It was their first boy, after previously giving birth to five daughters. But things quickly took a horrifying turn.
“Our boy was born five months premature,” Bhatin told the Times of India. “We were told that he did not survive and was thrown into a dustbin where he kept lying for hours.”
The parents weren’t even given the chance to see him, until they put pressure on hospital staff to do so. “Only after persistent requests, he was handed over to us, wrapped in a sheet,” Bhatin continued. “Moments before the funeral, we were shocked to see the baby’s hands move and immediately rushed him to a nearby hospital from where the doctors referred him to a higher medical centre in Meerut.”
A similar case took place in Brazil when an 18-year-old mother gave birth prematurely to a two-pound, three-ounce boy. She took him to the hospital, where he was declared stillborn. Hours later, the funeral director arrived and realized he was still alive. Other cases like this have happened in Mexico and Argentina.
It was clearly an emotional moment for Khan. “My child was thrown in the dustbin,” she said. “No health staff was present there to pick him up. Doctors said the baby was already dead.”
Her sister, Momina, said they were on the way to bury the little boy when they realized he was still alive. “On our way to the burial ground, we all were surprised to find the ‘dead’ child breathing,” she said. “The baby is now undergoing treatment at a different health centre and his mother has not been discharged yet from the Hapur hospital.”
Now, an investigation is being launched to determine what happened. “We have ordered a team from the district health department to probe the matter,” Dr. Sunil Kumar Tyagi, Hapur’s chief medical officer, said. “Action will be taken against the private hospital if found guilty.”
