'AIIMS swapped our baby'

In a complaint filed at Defence Colony Police Station, the family has said they were first told after the delivery, late Wednesday night, that it was a boy. Only to be handed a girl later, their report claims.

AIIMS officials have denied the allegation; the hospital has agreed to do a DNA samples testing of the child for free.

According to family members, Premlatha Gupta, 27, was moved to the labour room in AIIMS around midnight. “She gave birth at 3.05 am,” husband Ayush Gupta said. “The security guard (at labour) first shouted that a boy was born; a nurse then came out and said the same.

“Finally, a doctor came out of the labour room and confirmed it was a boy.”

But, he said, Premlatha’s mother Asha Gupta was handed over a girl child on Thursday morning. “I immediately told the nurse that the doctor had said it was a male child,” Asha Gupta said. “I even showed her the file —the sex of the child was written as ‘male’ on it.”

She said the doctor, nurses and all staff members at the ward asked her later to return the file. But “I refused, fearing they would tear the pages,” Asha Gupta said.

Gupta said he got the record photocopied, “but the doctors later snatched the original copy as well as the photocopy.”

Witnesses at the hospital waiting room, meanwhile, corroborated Ayush’s account. Sharad Sharma, whose wife was at the labour room, said, “I was with aunty (Asha) when they (hospital staff) announced it was a boy. In fact, I had woken her up.”

Iftikar Ahlam, whose sister-in-law was in the labour room, said he saw the form in Premlatha’s file, in which the child’s sex was written ‘male’.

Meanwhile, Defence Colony police officials said AIIMS has sent the DNA samples for testing and any action will be taken after the report is out.

AIIMS spokesperson Y K Gupta said, “As far as our records go, the child is a female. We think a ward boy must have misinformed the family, or the family might have misheard it. We have sent DNA samples for testing to satisfy the family’s fears. The report will be out by Tuesday.”

Gupta said AIIMS would perform the tests — it costs Rs 10,000 — for free to “satisfy” the family.