A woman and her newborn, who had been stolen from the gynecology and obstetrics ward of the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital (NBMCH) recently, were discharged from the hospital today.

As the couple left the hospital, Nityananda Singha and Ranjita Singha “nicknamed” the baby “Lucky.” The discharge was done after approval of the child welfare committee, it is learnt.

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The first time mother, Mrs Singha, who had been referred to the NBMCH after postpartum hemorrhage, following delivery of the child at the Kharibari hospital on 18 April, was admitted to the gynecology & obstetric ward on 19 April. Her three-day-old baby had been stolen by a woman from the ward on 20 April.

The incident snowballed into a major issue with it bringing to the fore multiple loopholes in the security system of the NBMCH. A special police team rescued the baby from Chopra in North Dinajpur and arrested a mother and daughter duo–Sita Das and Anju Das–on 22 April. The baby, who had been kept at the neonatal intensive care unit since then, was handed over to her mother on Tuesday.

Mr Singha said the security system at the ward should be monitored properly.

“We have named our son Lucky, but it is just a nickname. We will decide on a good name for him after discussing with family members at home on a good occasion,” he said.

Dean of student affairs at the NBMCH and gynecologist Dr Sandip Sengupta said they were happy that the child had been rescued with the proactive role of the police.

“We have introspected the security system. The NBMCH authorities have restricted the movement of family members during their entries, and that will be strictly followed. We are also planning to beef up the security more,” Dr Sengupta said.

Meanwhile, many doctors and faculties of the NBMCH voiced for enhancement of police strength on the campus.

“Security guards are deployed at the entries of the wards. But around 4000 people daily turn up at the outpatient department. The campus is spread on around 120 acres of land. There is no mechanism of monitoring. We have earlier requested the police to look into this problem,” an official said.

The police outpost at the NBMCH has been functional with an inadequate number of force. Headed by the officer-in-charge, the outpost, which covers Matigara-I gram panchayat, has two subinspectors, five assistant subinspectors, six constables and two women constables, sources said. Along with the NBMCH, the outpost covers a vast area outside the campus.

A senior officer of the Siliguri police commissionerate, however, claimed that the number of police personnel at the outpost was sufficient.

NBMCH patient welfare committee chairman and Siliguri mayor Gautam Deb said he would discuss with the police and prepare a roadmap on strengthening the security of the campus in the next committee meeting.