This Article is From Mar 08, 2012

Baby Falak survives, but has nowhere to go

Baby Falak survives, but has nowhere to go
New Delhi: From India's baby, two-year-old Falak has now become India's miracle baby. Brought to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) on January 18 with severe head injuries, fractured arms and human bite marks all over her, baby Falak has made it through, in what can only be called a miraculous recovery.

"I have not seen a child in my career who has had two cardiac arrests, so many complications and severe injuries, and still come out. So, her recovery is not anything less than a miracle. We would like to discharge her but the question is, till a legal guardian comes into the picture, we cannot," said Dr Deepak Aggarwal, Neurosurgeon, AIIMS Trauma Centre, who has been attending on the child since January 18.

Ironically, now that India's miracle baby is ready to go home, she doesn't have one to go to.

Thousands, touched by Falak's fight for survival in the face of impossible odds, have come forward with offers of help. Some have even offered to adopt her, but there are legal issues involved.

"The thing is that she is not an unidentified person. She's a person who's got a family like everyone knows. She's got a known mother," said Dr Aggarwal.

Falak's biological mother, 22-year-old Munni, is currently in shelter at the Social Welfare Department's Nirmal Chaya Complex in Delhi. She has seen her daughter only once in hospital, and there is no clarity as to when the two will be reunited.

"The Police, the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and us all need to sit together and figure what to do once she is discharged," said MC Mishra, Head of AIIMS.

"Presently baby Falak is in the protective custody of the CWC... The committee will examine many issues including the mother's capacity to look after the child and then we will take a holistic view and decide," said Raj Mangal Prasad, Chairperson, CWC, Delhi (South).

For now it is clear that baby Falak's future is unlikely to be decided any time soon.
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