Indian rickshaw-puller forced to take baby to work By Narayan Bareth

Jaipur Published duration 19 October 2012

image caption Rickshaw-puller Bablu Jatav says there is no-one to care for his daughter after his wife died

Offers of help have been coming into BBC Hindi after it reported that an Indian rickshaw-puller is carrying his month-old daughter in a cloth sling around his neck after his wife died.

Bablu Jatav's wife, Shanti, died on 20 September, soon after giving birth to their first child in Rajasthan state.

Mr Jatav, 38, says since there is no-one else to look after the baby, he takes her to work with him every day.

Now a local charity has agreed to help Mr Jatav take care of the baby.

"Shanti died soon after delivering the baby at the hospital. Since there is no-one to look after my daughter, I keep her with me even when I pull my rickshaw," Mr Jatav, who lives in the town of Bharatpur, told the BBC.

"We had this baby after 15 years of our marriage, my wife was so happy when we were blessed with a daughter, but it is very sad she passed away."

Taking the baby to work has created its own set of problems - on Tuesday, she had to be taken to hospital to be treated for dehydration.

Mr Jatav says life is tough and he is struggling to keep afloat.

"I have to pay 500 rupees [$9; £6] a month as house rent and 30 rupees daily to rent the rickshaw," he said.

Mr Jatav said he was afraid to re-marry because "my first priority is to care for and bring up my baby girl".

Meanwhile, after a report on Mr Jatav's plight was published on the BBC's Hindi website on Thursday, calls to help the family have been coming in from India and abroad.