Newborn found on wayside

ALAPPUZHA: A newborn female baby was found on the wayside near the Juma Masjid in Kuttitheruv, near Kayamkulam, during the early hours of Monday. Some of the local people, who went to the mosque for the morning prayers, heard the child crying and notified the police.The police from the Kayamkulam station reached the spot, admitted the baby to the Taluk Hospital in Kayamkulam. After the check-up, the police handed over the child to the emergency ambulance driver and left.     The driver and a male nurse from the Taluk Hospital produced the child before Child Welfare Committee member M K Abdul Samad, who directed to take the child to the Mother and Child Hospital. “The child has no health issues,” said Abdul Samad. However, he alleged that the police overlooked the guidelines to be followed when a child is found abandoned.  “No police had accompanied the child, and they failed to produce the report and the mahassar,” Samad added.“If a female child is found, a lady police officer should accompany the child, but in this case, they handed her over to a male nurse. That was utter negligence,” he said. The committee will meet on Wednesday to discuss the care-taking of the child, Samad added.The local police said that a Qualis was found moving around where the child was found in the early morning.