Mumbai: At a time when the police and medical services are grappling with the COVID-19 pandemic, a woman police officer and her staff helped a 35-year-old destitute woman deliver her baby on a footpath in south Mumbai, police said on Wednesday.
As heavy rains lashed the city in the early hours of Sunday, sub-inspector Priya Garud was on check post duty when she got a call about a destitute woman crying out for help near Metro cinema, an official said.
Garud, who is attached to the Azad Maidan police station, rushed to the spot with her staff and found that the woman, who is mentally challenged, was experiencing acute labour pains, he said.
When the personnel saw that the woman didn’t even have proper clothes, they went to a nearby house to borrow some clothes and bedsheets, the official said. The policewoman then ran to the state-run hospital nearby, where the doctors asked her to get the patient to the hospital, he added.
By the time Garud returned to the spot, she found that the woman had already delivered the infant, the official said, adding that the personnel tried their best to keep the woman and the baby safe as they waited for an ambulance.
When the ambulance finally arrived after over an hour-long wait, the woman and her baby were shifted to Cama and Albles Hospital and both are doing well, the senior officer said.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh took to Twitter to praise the efforts taken by the police personnel.
“Sub Inspector Priya Garud and Constable Asmita Jadhav helped a homeless woman deliver her baby on the footpath and shielded them. They waited with the lady for the ambulance which was on #covid19 duty. I appreciate the compassion and trancend of @MumbaiPolice,” the minister tweeted. (PTI)
