Uptick seen in cases of abandoned newborns
Whether it is due to the economic conditions or for the want of a son instead of a daughter, cases of newborn babies being abandoned at hospitals or dumped in garbage heaps have seen an uptick in Punjab.
There are currently 34 newborn children in the nursery of the Child Protection and Welfare Bureau in Lahore - 23 of which are girls, whereas 11 are boys. The Bureau received these infants from various hospitals across Punjab, most of whom were left there by their families.
However, this is not the first time that the Bureau is raising abandoned children, as it has been doing so in the past as well but data in this regard has never been compiled. Regardless of data though, the reasons for people leaving behind their children are usually the same as per Rashida Qureshi, an activist working for children’s rights in Lahore.
While talking to The Express Tribune at length about the various reasons, Qureshi said: “There are some women who become mothers due to adultery or abuse and do not want to raise the child due to the fear of stigma.” Qureshi further said that apart from the societal stigma aspect, there are economic reasons for abandoning babies as well.
“Poverty and unemployment can be dominant factors behind the decision to leave the child at a hospital or on the doorsteps of welfare organisations. However, this can be prevented if family planning is stressed upon but people are ignorant,” said the child right’s activist.
While it remains to be seen whether family planning initiatives will ever become popular in the country, it seems that abandoning children on the doorsteps of welfare organisations is the go-to solution for now. Faisal Edhi, Chairman of the Edhi Foundation, which has set up cradles outside its centres across the country for people who want to leave their babies, said that there has been an uptick in cases of abandoned infants.
“However, what I have witnessed lately is that people now put dead children in the cradles outside our centres,” he regretted. According to a spokesperson of the Edhi Foundation Lahore, they buried 31 newborn children in 2022. Dr Raghib Hussain Naeemi of the Jamia Naeemia Lahore, when asked about the religious implications of abandoning children, said that Islam does not allow individuals to leave their offsprings outside charities or in hospitals.
“Even poverty cannot be used as an excuse to abandon your child because Allah is the Provider, so one must have faith. However, it is much better to hand over children to a charity or welfare organisation rather than killing them,” said Dr Naeemi while talking to The Express Tribune.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 6th, 2023.