CUTTACK: The High Court-appointed Advocates Committee on Health Care on Saturday made a pitch for DNA test to resolve the alleged child-swapping issue in the SCB Medical College and Hospital. The ‘parents’ of a seven-day-old girl have refused to accept her alleging that the child was not their daughter. They have charged the hospital staff with swapping their baby boy with the girl who is now under the care of the doctors at the neo-natal care unit. The father, Sushant Mallick of Nischintkoili, alleged that his wife Rashmita had given birth to a baby boy on March 30. But instead of the boy, a girl was handed over to them. Refusing to accept the girl child, Mallick, his wife and mother have been squatting at the Obstetrics and Gynaeocology (O&G) Department for the last one week as the hospital authorities are grappling to deal with the situation. The Committee members _ amicus curiae PR Das, Tarananda Patnaik and Dr PK Pradhan _ visited the O&G wing of the premier hospital. Following interactions with the family members of the child and doctors and staff, they asked the hospital authorities to move the Government for the DNA test. “The test will put to rest the controversy over child swapping which the hospital frequently finds itself mired in. If the parents are found to be making false allegations, exemplary action should be taken against them. And if their claims are right, a very dangerous practice will be uncovered necessitating drastic action against the guilty staffers and total purging of the system,” Das said. The Committee has also proposed revamping the procedures of delivery from the time of admission to the labour room. Apart from keeping footprints of the newborn, it has advocated CCTV recording which can be accessed in times of controversy, Das said.
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