Baby Kumaraswamy, the new-born lovingly named and nursed by the officers of Electronic City police station in Bengaluru, passed away after failing to respond to treatment. The newborn was rescued from a garbage dump in a construction site in Doddathoguru on the afternoon of June 5.
"The baby was weak when it was brought to the station and there was a small wound on the forehead. We hoped that the baby would survive but sadly it did not turn out that way," said Archana, the police constable and new mum who breastfed the baby when she realised he was not crying.
The baby was taken care of by the officers under R Nagesh, the assistant sub-inspector of Police for Electronic City. Once his condition was stabilised they handed him over to the Sishu Bhavan, which is part of the government run Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health. However, the baby reportedly passed away on June 7.
He reportedly died of hypothermia and neo-natal sepsis, an infection of blood. He had also contracted Meningitis, a brain infection.
"He was left in the cold and exposed to it for a long time which is why he contracted bacterial infections and he had no immunity to fight it," Asha Benkappa, Director, Indira Gandhi Institute of Child Health, told The Hindu.
The baby was named Kumaraswamy by its first family, the officers of Electronic City, after the Chief Minister of Karnataka.
"He is the government's baby after all," R Nagesh had earlier said in a lighter vein.
Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy too had applauded the officers’ efforts to rescue and save the baby after the incident took place.