It is not the first time that a newborn has gone missing from Vani Vilas Hospital nor is it going to be the last. And while we acknowledge and applaud the police team that investigated successfully the complaint relating to the missing baby of Arshiya, barely a day after her delivery and restoring the baby to the distraught mother, this shocking incident causes several concerns about the safety of the system.

Vani Vilas renders yeoman services to the people of Bangalore by providing a haven for women to deliver, free of cost, their babies. It is a service used by hundreds of poor, vulnerable women irrespective of caste or creed. A rough estimate is that on average about 100 deliveries before Covid and 60-70 after Covid occur on a day. Indeed a phenomenal service!

Yet, it is absolutely imperative that we focus on the functioning of the hospital: its infrastructure, the systems and security measures, etc. For instance, what is the right number of CCTV cameras required and how can it be tolerated that of the 12 CCTV cameras installed 10 were not functioning? The hospital, which is open 24/7 to attend to mothers, throughout the day, is a maze of pregnant women, attendants, relatives, visitors, etc. It is difficult to distinguish between genuine patients, genuine relatives and friends and those that ramble/roam around with the intent of finding an opportunity to steal a baby or interchange/swap a girl baby with a boy baby, and then if caught, passing it off as a 'mistaken identity'. These sordid/sleazy happenings are frequently reported, but what are the systems put in place to prevent them? Another question is, what is the quality of the security measures and how sufficient and how efficient are the security personnel? In the present case of the missing child, only 2 CCTV cameras out of 12 were functional. This footage shows the abductor casually/cooly exiting with the baby. Should not procedures be there in place to monitor the 'real mother with her baby' so that the fake ones are weeded out?

It is in this context that the news item "police issue notice to Vani Vilas hospital over security lapses" in The Hindu, Sunday, November 22, 2020, is a step in the right direction and must be followed up until proper preventive and effective systems with an element of accountability put in place. Please sign and endorse this petition to demand safer hospital spaces to prevent the abduction and subsequent selling of little babies. Every voice counts!