By Pragna L KrupaWhile millions around the world set up alerts to be notified about the birth of a royal baby in April, one little girl’s birth was not anticipated at all. In fact, had it not been for an auto driver who saw her mother go into labour on the busy Whitefield road, there would have been no record of her birth. Or her death 18 days later. And in the brief time that she lived, she brought immense joy and hope to one person who was neither her mother nor her father. But the auto driver who found her mother on the road and took her to hospital.Today, Babu Muddrappa, the 29-year-old auto driver, is the only one who remembers this girl who was born on April 15.Babu Muddrappa, the 29-year-old auto driver found a woman, who identified herself as Nanditha, on Whitefield road on April 15, around 2.30 pm. She was pregnant and had gone into labour and despite her cries for help, no one had stepped up to help her. Muddrappa felt sorry for her and offered to take her to the nearby Vydehi hospital where the doctors asked him to take her to the CV Raman hospital. He then rushed her to the CV Raman hospital where she was admitted. “The woman was in a lot of pain so I didn’t ask her any questions. I just filled up the admission forms with my details. During the admission process, I learnt that her name was Nanditha. Other than this, I knew nothing about her.”On April 15, at 9:30 pm, the woman delivered a baby girl but all was not well. It was a premature birth at 7 months, and the baby weighed just 850 gms. The new born had severe breathing problems and the doctors asked Babu to take the infant to the Bowring Hospital for treatment. On the same night at 11:30 pm, Muddrappa rushed the infant to the Bowring Hospital and stayed back to finish the admission formalities. When he returned to the CV Raman hospital early next morning (April 16) to check on the mother, he was told that she had fled from the hospital.Muddrappa said that he felt bad for the woman whose circumstances had forced her to flee from the hospital and abandon her child. But he had made up his mind that he would adopt the baby girl. Muddrappa, who is married, is the father of two children, a four-year-old son and a two-year-old daughter. “When I saw the baby, it reminded me of my children when they were just born and I could not think of abandoning her. So I took care of the hospital bills or other expenses. I would work during the day and visit the hospital at night to check on the infant,” said Muddrappa.The infant who had been admitted to Bowring hospital with breathing difficulties had started showing signs of improvement on Friday He said, “The baby initially had breathing trouble and on Friday (May 3) I bought milk powder and medicines that the doctors had prescribed for the baby. However, on Saturday night, I received a call from the hospital with the news that the baby had died. The doctors told me that her condition had deteriorated and they could not save the baby despite all their efforts.”Muddrappa later filed a police complaint with the Indiranagar police requesting them to find the woman who had abandoned the baby and asked them to take legal action against her.He said that he had even requested the police to hand over the infant’s body to him so that he could perform the last rites. Muddrappa is devastated by the baby’s death since he had been hoping he could adopt her. He refused to reveal how much money he spent on the child and hospital bills. “The time and money I spent is immaterial.She was like my own child. No one keeps an account of how much we spend on our children’s food or hospital expenses,” said Muddrappa.The Indiranagar police have registered a case and are on the lookout for the woman named, Nanditha. The infant’s body has been sent for post-mortem. The Indiranagar police said that the auto driver had helped the woman out of a sense of responsibility and kindness towards a fellow human being, but after she abandoned the baby, he decided to adopt the infant.Dr. Anjan Murthy, an assistant professor in Bowring hospital and in-charge of medical care of infants and children said, “It was a premature baby girl and such babies have a very low survival rate. When she was brought in, she had very severe breathing problems and she was kept under observation. Muddrappa would visit the infant regularly and enquire about her progress with our staff. On Saturday, when the infant succumbed, the staff called Muddrappa and informed him as he was the only visitor.”