Newborn baby goes missing from Green Cross Hospital in Biratnagar

BIRATNAGAR: A newborn baby has gone missing from the Green Cross Hospital of Biratnagar.

Two persons have been arrested for their alleged involvement in stealing the child delivered by an unmarried woman.

The suspects have been identified as Dr Tapeshwor Lal Karna (68) and a man said to be the father of the child.

Obstetrics and Gynecology Specialist Dr Karna is a former medical superintendent of the Koshi Hospital in Biratnagar.

After getting retired from the government job, he has been operating a clinic named ‘Dipesh Medical’. He also works at the Green Cross Hospital.

According to police, the woman in her mid-20 gave birth to a daughter in the same hospital.

She was admitted to the hospital in the afternoon on June 28. She gave birth to a daughter the following day through normal delivery.

Police said that a 27-year-old man of Hatuwa Gadhi Rural Municipality-4, Bhojpur and a woman were in a relationship for the past two years.

DSP Ranjan Kumar Dahal, spokesperson at the District Police Office, Morang, said that the man brought the woman to Biratnagar after she got pregnant.

Initially, they had gone to the Dipesh Medical Clinic near Greencross Hospital.

In the clinic, Obstetrics and Gynecology Specialist Dr Karna had carried out a pregnancy test of the woman.

Soon after, Dr Karna admitted the woman to the hospital for the delivery. She was admitted to the hospital by hiding her real identity.

The woman was discharged from the hospital on June 29 after she gave birth to a daughter.

She said that her boyfriend took her to Itahari after she was discharged from the hospital.

“He took me to Itahari in a tempo with the child. He kept me in the hotel room near the Bus Park. When I asked about the baby, he said that she was in the hospital. On July 1, he left the room saying that he had some work to be done,” the woman told Nepal Press over phone.

He did not return to the hotel and contacted me after that day, she said.

On August 17, she filed a complaint at the District Police Office, Morang against the doctor and her boyfriend.

“I know that the nurses had taken the baby soon after the birth.  I don’t know anything after that,” she said, adding, “I have not got my baby till today.”

She further said that they were in a relationship for the past two years and were planning to get married.