‘Society growing ugly and inhumane’
In a shocking incident, a dead newborn infant was seen into the mouth of a dog, parading at Press Enclave in summer capital Srinagar on Thursday morning.
The infant wrapped in a newspaper had been thrown in garbage at SRTC yard opposite Tyndale Biscoe School while the dog after recovering the baby started running with infant into its mouth.Eyewitnesses said that people chased the dog and it left the baby on road.
Hey said that the police rushed to spot and handed over the baby to locals who later on buried the baby.
Sharing his first hand experience, Ali Mohammad, a passerby told, “I was riding my bike near Biscoe School. I saw a dog running with a baby in his mouth. I tried to follow him and saw a sweeper coming from the other side. I asked him to stop the dog. He frightened it. It dropped the baby there.”
The baby was then wrapped in newspapers by journalists around and taken to Police station, Kothi Bagh. As per SHO Kothi Bagh, Rashid Malik, the police department was informed by its policemen on duty, near press colony. He told that the case has been registered under the relevant section and that it’s quite possible that the baby is from a nearby hospital.
Meanwhile during the day, the discourse engaged the social media. Comments like ‘society is growing ugly and inhumane’ were seen on facebook(fb). Many people shared the news which led to many rumours. It was said that the baby was buried. However, police denied it, saying, “The body has not been yet buried. It’s in the morgue at SMHS hospital. Someone may come to claim it.”
Responding to the query as to if the baby had any scratches on the body or was hurt by the dog, Malik said, “As such it wasn’t hurt. We are waiting for the post mortem reports”.
Presenting his opinion, Irshad Ahmad, a local said, “It’s very unfortunate. It’s for the first time when I saw a male abandoned baby. It may be an illegal baby. Otherwise people don’t kill boys. They kill girls. Our society is heading towards something very evil and disastrous. Only Allah can save us”.
Shoib Noor, a netizen wrote on his facebook, “As of today, there are three kinds of people in Kashmir, those insensitive and inhuman brutes who threw the infant on the road for dogs to eat (reminds me of the Gawkadal massacre), the second are those insensitive creatures who post the pics of this human tragedy on FB for the ‘insensitive pups’ to like n share and the third majority that is insensitive to this tragedy and will continue to be ‘Eternal Batt jins’.
It’s not for the first time when infants are being abandoned in the valley.
Four newborn babies were abandoned in January and one on October 18, 2015 at G.B Pant Hospital.
A three day old baby girl was found abandoned near toilets of G.B.Pant Hospital on 17 Jan. On 28 Jan, a baby girl from Sumbal was admitted to the same hospital by her family and abandoned later. Three babies have been abandoned at Lal Ded hospital for past 8 months.
Moreover, as per official records, 20 newborns were abandoned in 2012 in Srinagar.
Pertinently Press Colony is a place where people across the valley come with their stories or grievances. It’s for the first time when a dog came to the colony with a big question, in its mouth, on the social strata of Kashmir. Crushing the question of ‘female feticide’, the lifeless male tot pointed fingers towards the ugly side of the Valley.
Medical Superintendent, LD Hospital, Dr. Mushtaq Ahmad told people leave infants near or in the hospital. Later on, some are adopted by other people. “On an average, in a year, 5-7 abandoned babies are left at the hospital. Referring to the current case, he said, “It can’t be from our hospital. It’s not possible for a dog to carry a baby from here to LalChowk.”
Medical Superintendent G.B Pant Hospital, Dr Shafqat Khan said, “The baby is not from our hospital. We have a tight security and we don’t leave infants on streets for dogs to carry them.”
Though the authorities are ‘investigating’, probably the human beings need to ‘introspect’.
A police official said that they have registered a case and investigation has been taken up to trace the people responsible for leaving the baby in bin.
