Hospital mess in Assam: Child reunited with parents 3 years after birth

Guwahati, June 10 (IANS) In a bizarre incident, three years after birth, a child was finally reunited with his parents after a court verdict in Assams Barpeta district.

Nazma Khanam got back her biological son three years after his birth following the order of a local court in Barpeta district, settling a legal battle with another family.

Lawyers of Khanam said on Friday that the dispute was settled after a DNA test that ascertained the genuine parents of the baby.

In a case of sheer negligence, the child was handed over to the other family by the staff of the government-run Fakruddin Ali Ahmed Medical College and Hospital at Barpeta in 2019.

Khanam gave birth to the boy on May 3, 2019 but the baby soon started having serious breathing problems. The newborn was shifted to the ICU as his health condition deteriorated.

Later, the hospital staff told Khanam and her husband that their child had died and handed over them the body. The couple initially refused to take the body claiming that it was not their child, but subsequently took it.

Few days later, the couple again went to the medical college and found in the hospital records that another lady with the same name and nearly similar surname (Khatun) had given birth to a male child.

Khanam then filed a case of child swapping with the Barpeta police.

The police found that Nazma Khatun had given birth to a child and the baby was under medical treatment at the medical college.

During investigation, it was found that Khatun's baby had died during treatment.

The police with the help of DNA samples found that the three-year-old child raised by Nazma Khatun was the biological child of Nazma Khanam.

"We agreed to the DNA test since we were sure it was our baby. Now the court has ordered that this is their (Khanam) child. We are shocked," said Nazma Khatun's husband.