Infant girl survives garbage dump fire

LUCKNOW - Call it her will to live that enabled a new-born girl in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur district survive even after she was dumped on a mound of garbage that was later set on fire.

The infant was found Thursday lying abandoned on the garbage dump near the Ghazipur District Women’s Hospital.

“The presence of the girl came to light only when some sanitary workers lit the garbage for its disposal and heard the cries of the baby,” Chulah Devi, an employee of the Women’s Hospital, told reporters Friday in Ghazipur, some 250 km from Lucknow.

“Soon after hearing the cries, they (sanitary workers) got into action and rescued the baby girl. But by then, the girl had suffered burn injuries on her back and a leg,” she added.

The girl is being presently treated for her multiple burn injuries in the Ghazipur District Hospital.

“She is admitted in the emergency ward and is now out of danger,” A.K. Bharti, a doctor at the Ghazipur District Hospital, told reporters.

Police Friday registered a case against unidentified people for leaving the girl on the garbage dump.

“We are still to trace the people involved in the inhumane act,” said police inspector K.K. Singh.

Meanwhile, a local unit of the Rotary Club approached the hospital authorities to adopt the girl.

The average sex ratio of Uttar Pradesh is 898 females per 1000 males. However, the ratio in several districts including Hardoi, Shahjahanpur, Badaun and Etah is extremely poor. In these districts, there are less than 850 females per 1000 males, an official said.