Child Abandon cases in Goa
1. October 2022 – New-born baby girl was found abandoned in a field behind Our
Lady of Merces Chapel at Vaddem, Vasco
2. September 2022 – New-born girl child was found abandoned near the sewerage
treatment plant at Sirvodem, Margao,
3. June 2022 – Dead body of an infant was found wrapped in a plastic bag in a dustbin
outside a flat of a residential apartment in Baina-Vasco
4. March 2022 – New-born girl child was found abandoned in a plastic bag at
Quegdevelim beach, Nerul.
5. April 2021 – New-born girl child was found wrapped in a plastic carry bag, in front
of a house behind a hospital at Sakhali.
6. September 2021 – New born infant was found abandoned, wrapped in a saree, near
a tree near the jetty at Maina Navelim, Bicholim.
7. October 2020 – A decapitated body of a less than one old-month-old girl child was
found washed ashore at Siridao beach.
8. August 2020 – A dead baby boy was found in a decomposed state in a dustbin at
Gandhinagar, Vasco
9. August 2019 – New born baby boy was found abandoned in a garage at Peddem,
Mapusa.
10. December 2018 – New-born girl was found abandoned in some roadside bushes at
Mandop, Navelim
11. August 2017 – A new-born baby girl was found abandoned on the roadside, near Narrow Gate at Mugalli, Curtorim
Goemkarponn desk
PANAJI: Following a shocking incident of a female child found abandoned at Vasco, the Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (GSCPCR) has taken a suo-moto cognizance and asked the government departments to file action taken reports.
The Commission states that since 2017 there have been 11 cases of child abandonment.
“The state has witnessed several infant abandonment cases in the recent past. In recognizing the long-term and continuing impact, as well as the need for greater preparedness and action by all the stakeholders for protection of abandoned infants, the Commission is
issuing the “Advisory for Safe Surrender in Context of Infant Abandonment Cases in Goa”,” it said.
The Women and Child Department, teh Health Department and the Goa Police have been to send an Action Taken Report (ATR) within 4 weeks, on the recommendations made in the advisory including specific measures undertaken and implemented to safeguard the rights of the children, GSCPCR chairman Peter F. Borges said.
“The recent incidences of new-born abandonment in Goa, most of it in unsafe places recently is very perturbing. The state has recorded eleven such cases in last five years (2017-2022), with four of them registered in 2022 itself. Of these three abandoned infants have
succumbed to gory aftermath of unsafe abandonments spanning dog bites to inflicted by garbage, etc,” the Commission Observed.
GSCPCR said the while the act of abandoning a new-born baby seems heartless and cruel, baby dumping is
the end result of various issues that are affecting young mothers who feel they have no alternative.
“Biological parents, overwhelmed with the belief they have no other option, are leaving their newly born infants in dumpsters, along deserted stretches of roadway,
beaches, garbage bins, fields and other open areas.
With this series of incidents of baby abandonment, there is a need for greater prevention efforts and actions for the protection of children by all stakeholders for the future,” Commission says.
This preparedness and actions will require close-coordinated, multi-sectoral, and collaborative
efforts between all stakeholders, it says.
“An unwanted child may be thrown away by the parents, causing lifelong physical injuries and mental trauma, assuming the child even survives. Lack of awareness about the law on surrendering unwanted children is a major reason behind infant abandonment issue. Urgent
action is required taking into account the constitutional obligations, child protection laws, the UNCRC’s general principles to safeguard the lives and protect the rights of children,” GSCPCR says.
