Mumbai (AsiaNews) - A five-day-old infant was found last night unconscious and in a pool of blood on the tracks of Kalyan Station, in suburban Mumbai. Thanks to the quickness of people present at the scene, the baby boy was taken to Rukminibai Hospital before he was transferred to Sion Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit where he is stable (pictured).
"In this human tragedy," noted Mgr Savio Fernandes, auxiliary archbishop of Mumbai, "we must celebrate the culture of life. Commuters who saved the child's life represent hope for all of us."
The conditions under which the child was found suggest that whoever left him tried to kill him. The baby had a 5-cm five-cm long gash on the neck 5 cm as well as other minor wounds on the cheek and chin. Doctors at the hospital had to sew three stitches on his neck to stop the bleeding.
The police, who dubbed the child a "miracle baby", is already on the trail of his parents. At present, law enforcement agents are visiting every private clinic in the area and questioning slum dwellers near the station.
For Archbishop Savio Fernandes, who is also chairman of the Diocesan Commission for the family and human life, "abandoning a five-day-old infant is a loss of respect for the sanctity of life. Every child is a precious gift from God. The Church supports a culture of life. If you cannot keep your kids, take them to the Sisters of Mother Teresa. The Missionaries of Charity have many hostels and foster homes, and will be happy to take care of them."
Speaking to AsiaNews, Dr Pascoal Carvalho, a member of the Pontifical Academy for Life, said that "What happened to the child is not an isolated incident. Failure to respect life means abandoning God. Consequently, all sorts of corruption and amorality are the result, and, unfortunately, Indian history has witnessed a lot of that recently. It is urgent to overcome the culture of death, which has often been supported by a culture of silence, by promoting the culture of life and giving a voice to those who cannot defend themselves."