Rescued from drain, baby named Freedom

The morning of India’s 72nd Independence Day was also a new beginning for a newborn in Chennai who was rescued from a stormwater drain in SVS Nagar by a woman named K Geeta.

The boy was found with an umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, after Geeta heard faint cries of a baby from her vicinity. She looked into the cemented drain and discovered the boy, covered in mud and worms, lying between two pipes.

She then acted swiftly and loosened the umbilical cord from around his neck and cleaned him up with hot water.

Locals immediately alerted the authorities who took the child to a clinic at Chinna Porur and later to Stanley Medical College and Hospital. The child is now under the care of Government’s Cradle Baby Scheme (CBS).

He was christened ‘Suthanthiram’ meaning freedom, as his birth coincided with the Independence Day.

'Freedom' inside storm water drain: As India celebrated I-Day, newborn baby boy with umbilical cord around neck rescued from inside drain in Chennai by homemaker Geeta who pulled out baby, untwined cord, shifted him to Egmore Hospital; baby nw fine, Geeta named him Freedom @ndtv pic.twitter.com/hr7IGIyMkS

— Uma Sudhir (@umasudhir) August 16, 2018

Police suspect the child was abandoned at the spot on Wednesday early morning and are now inspecting hospitals for deliveries on Wednesday. They are also scanning the  CCTV footage of the area to spot anything unusual.
They are also looking for the parents of the child to question them.

Swift Action

• The boy was found with an umbilical cord wrapped around his neck, after Geeta heard faint cries of a baby from her vicinity. 
• She looked into the drain and discovered the boy, covered in mud and worms, lying between two pipes.