Noida: A one-and-a-half-year-old girl was rescued from a garbage heap in Bisrakh, an official from the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) said. The residents of a slum adjacent to the dumpyard spotted the child and alerted the police. She was taken into CWC custody, where officials said she is safe and in good health.Around 5pm on Tuesday, as a group of women who work as domestic help in the buildings around the slum cluster was leaving for their evening shifts, they heard the wails of a child coming from the dumpyard. It is located about 200 metres away from the slum. Three women and a man followed the child’s cries and went into the heap. The dump was vast, making it difficult for them to locate the child. Moreover, loud dog barks almost drowned its cries.After searching for nearly 15 minutes, they found the child naked inside a bamboo basket. It was covered in filth and crying inconsolably. There were streams of leachate flowing around the bamboo basket. She had been left there for an unknown period.The residents alerted the local police station and a team rushed to the spot. They took the child into their care before informing the CWC. She was subsequently shifted for a preliminary medical examination. CWC chairman KC Virmani said the child is currently safe and under the committee’s protection. He said the girl appears to have been abandoned. “We are looking for her parents,” he added.Officials said the girl did not have any visible injuries on her body and her medical examination indicated that she was in stable condition despite being found in such distressing circumstances. “Following the legal process prescribed under the Juvenile Justice Act, the child may eventually be declared legally free for adoption if no claimant comes forward within the stipulated period,” Virmani said.Station house officer of Bisrakh police station, Munendra Singh, said police have launched an investigation to determine the circumstances under which the toddler was abandoned and are making efforts to identify and trace her parents or guardians.
