Allegations of baby swapping rocked a private nursing home in the East Jadavpur police station area in Kolkata on Thursday. A doctor and the owner of the nursing home were arrested after the father of a newborn, a resident of Mukundapur, alleged that he was handed a baby with deformities though his wife’s ultra sonography (USG) reports never showed any abnormality in the foetus.
Sukanta Biswas, father of the newborn, lodged a complaint with the police station demanding “exemplary punishment” against the nursing home authorities. His wife Tapasi Biswas was admitted to the nursing home at Chhit Kalikapur on Wednesday evening and she gave birth to a baby on Thursday morning.
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Nearly two hours after the delivery, Biswas said, he was informed that his wife had delivered a baby with only one hand and deformed legs and face.
Biswas alleged that repeated USGs done at the nursing home since Tapasi conceived in November had shown the foetus was healthy and normal.
“My wife was undergoing treatment under a doctor at the nursing home during her entire pregnancy period. Every time the USG reports showed the foetus was normal and healthy. We were informed about the birth of the baby about one and a half hours after he was born at 7.27 pm. So, how did it happen? We can’t believe this…” he said.
Stating that this “might be a baby swapping case”, Biswas added in his complaint: “Someone in the nursing home might have taken our healthy baby exchanging the handicapped one. We have also seen one person carrying a big bag emerging from the operating theatre where the baby was delivered.”
Also alleging negligence on part of the doctors treating his wife, Biswas said, “There might also be sheer negligence in treatment that led to the birth of the handicapped baby. The doctor never said anything about any abnormality in the foetus when my wife underwent USG tests for at least six times. The doctor also advised us for a plastic surgery on the baby to reconstruct the deformities when we wanted to know about these physical abnormalities on the newborn.”
The doctor said it was nothing to be worried about, he added.
“The doctors at the state-run Nilratan Sarkar Medical College and Hospital were also surprised after seeing the baby. They wanted to know from us how did the doctors deliver this baby at the nursing home. We want an exemplary punishment against the nursing home and the doctors concerned,” said Biswas.
The family shifted Tapasi from the nursing home in Mukundapur to Nilratan Sarkar, a government-run hospital in central Kolkata, after the delivery.
Police have sealed the USG lab at the nursing home following the complaint.
According to reports, the nursing home in question is Green Park Nursing Home in East Jadavpur.
Sanjib Saha, the owner of the nursing home, has denied all the allegations.
“The ultrasonography reports were faulty. We have no role to play in this incident. The child was not formed properly,” he was quoted as saying in media reports.
Saha said there was no baby swapping and it could be verified with a DNA test.
