Woman held for abandoning child

THANE: The Thane city police have arrested a 35-year-old woman for abandoning her new-born daughter four months ago.
Manjudevi Tiwari, mother of four girls, had left the child close to the tyre of an ambulance outside the Thane civil hospital on January 26. The cries of the child, who was born in the same hospital, were heard by some local people and they immediately alerted Shiv Sena corporator Sudhir Kokate.He, in turn, informed the police and a search for the child's mother was launched.
The girl has been kept at a rehabilitation centre in Bhiwandi while her mother has been sent to the Adharwadi jail in Kalyan. Manjudevi was traced with the help of an address she had given to the hospital. Though the address—belonging to a village in Pen—was incomplete, the police kept a close eye on the area. And, following a tip-off, PSI A A Mistry visited Bhiwandi to question Manjudevi.
During her interrogation, the woman confessed having abandoned her child, after which she was taken into custody. The police, meanwhile, said the process of adopting the four-month-old girl was under way.
milind.ballal@timesgroup.com