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Published : 23 Mar 2025, 11:49 PM
A newborn baby has been admitted to the hospital after being rescued by locals from the side of a road in Barishal city.
The infant, believed to be three to four days old, was found in the city's Singara Point area in the wee hours of Sunday, according to Mizanur Rahman, chief of Kotwali Police Station.
Citing locals, law-enforcing agencies said the baby had been wrapped in a towel, and abandoned in a basket near a roadside food stall.
A bottle of milk feeder was also found next to the crying infant, said Mizanur.
A woman named Parveen Begum, who sells street food in the area, stumbled upon the child after hearing its cries while returning home.
“There was no place on the infant’s body where there were no mosquito bites,” Parveen said.
“We admitted the child to the medical centre at night, half dead.”
The child, who remains under treatment in the paediatric surgery ward of Barishal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital, has a spinal tumour, doctors said.
Given the severity of the condition, specialists have recommended transferring the infant to Dhaka for advanced medical care.
“The tumour is fairly large and may render one of the child’s legs useless,” a doctor at the hospital said.
“Urgent intervention is needed.”
Meanwhile, authorities have begun investigating the circumstances of the abandonment, combing through CCTV footage from the area.
“Doctors believe the child has a risk of being disabled due to the hole in the back and the shape of the legs. That may be why the baby’s relatives abandoned it,” Mizanur said.
The government-run Chhoto Moni Nibas, a shelter for abandoned children, was unable to take the baby in due to the child’s medical condition.
However, Barishal’s Social Services Office has stepped in to ensure the baby receives necessary care.
Parveen, the woman who rescued the child, has expressed a willingness to care for the baby—provided she receives assistance.
Authorities said arrangements for the child’s treatment and welfare are ongoing.
