AMRITSAR – A home for “unwanted” girl children today received two abandoned baby boys. While one was dropped in the cradle outside the home, the other was rescued by a rag picker. Panghura, a home for “unwanted” children run from the Red Cross Bhawan here by the district administration, was primarily set up to save unwanted girls. It is not usual for Panghura to shelter male children as predominantly female children are abandoned. Before yesterday’s instances, the institution had only three boys out of a total of 52 children.

A few hours before the rag picker brought the newborn to the institution, someone had dropped another newborn boy at the cradle outside the bhawan.

Had it not been for rag picker Lakhan, a dog would have devoured the new-born boy abandoned in a garbage dump. The child was rescued from the jaws of a dog and later found shelter at Panghura.

It was sheer luck that Lakhan was collecting rags from the same garbage heap at the same time as the dog. When the dog pulled out a polythene bag, the baby fell out of it. “When he fell on the heap, I heard a feeble cry,” said Lakhan who shooed away the canine and took the child home. There, Lakhan offered him to his married and childless sister for adoption.

“As people came to know about the incident, we were approached by many who wanted to adopt the child. Some even offered money. So we called up the police,” said Lakhan.

The child was then brought to Panghura which made arrangements for his hospitalisation. In fact, both boys are presently being taken care of in a hospital.