A new-born abandoned baby girl rescued from a dustbin at Krishna Lanka on Thursday is now in the protection of the Women and Child Welfare (W&CW) Department. The child is in Sishugruha at Budameru and officials have named her Manasa.

“The four-day-old infant weighing 2.5 kg is active. We are taking care of her,” District Child Protection Officer Ch. Vijaya Kumar said.

According to Mr. Kumar, local people noticed stray dogs pulling out a plastic cover from a bin in which the baby was wrapped even as incessant rain lashed the city.

Sensing something fishy, they shooed away the dogs and found a baby girl wrapped in a plastic cover. Even the umbilical cord was not severed yet. With the news spreading soon, women from nearby localities flocked to the spot and expressed their desire to adopt the child. Heated arguments ensued between some of the women forcing the police to intervene.

In the meantime, officials from the W&CW Department came to the spot and took custody of the child. They rushed her to the old Government General Hospital for a medical check. Later, they shifted the infant to Sishugruha.

“We will wait for two months to allow the biological parents to claim the baby. If they do not turn up, then the baby will be legally available for adoption,” Mr. Kumar said.