Wadia hospital doctors, nurses booked after Dadar woman alleges child swap

The complainant, Sunita Gangadhar Ganjeji, 41, is a resident of Kamgar Nagar in Dadar. She said that her husband works in a garment manufacturing unit, and they have a 16-year-old daughter. They had been trying for a second child, but she could not conceive naturally, she said, adding therefore she opted for an IVF treatment at a fertility clinic in Parel

MUMBAI: More than five months after a woman alleged that her newborn was swapped at Nawrosjee Wadia Maternity Hospital, police on Wednesday registered a case against unknown doctors and nurses. To substantiate their claim, the family had a DNA test conducted at a private lab, and the result of the infant and the mother came out negative, an officer from Bhoiwada police station said.

Meanwhile, the hospital claimed that they put tags on infants when they were born and the tags remain till the discharge of the mother and the newborns, police officers said. (ht photo)

The hospital, however, refuted the family’s claim.

The complainant, Sunita Gangadhar Ganjeji, 41, is a resident of Kamgar Nagar in Dadar. She said that her husband works in a garment manufacturing unit, and they have a 16-year-old daughter. They had been trying for a second child, but she could not conceive naturally, she said, adding therefore she opted for an IVF treatment at a fertility clinic in Parel.

“In September 2022, she conceived after the IVF treatment and in February this year she started taking treatment at Nawrosjee Wadia Maternity Hospital in Parel,” the police officer said. “She was given a tentative delivery date of the first week in June. Around 9pm on June 7, she gave birth to a baby.”

Ganjeji claimed that after giving birth, the baby was never shown to her. “She said initially she was told that she was unconscious for some time. The infant was later shifted to an intensive care unit (ICU) on grounds that the baby was choking as the water in the mother’s stomach had entered its mouth, nose and ears. Her husband, Gangadhar, however, was shown the child before it was taken to the ICU,” the officer said.

However, over the months her suspicion grew that the baby was not hers, and in August she raised a complaint with the hospital authorities, saying that she suspected that she gave birth to a boy but was handed a girl child.

Ganjeji said the infant was not shown to her after the delivery - from 9 pm to 11.30 pm on June 7, alleging that the hospital authorities changed the baby. “The woman later decided to take a DNA test at a private laboratory after extracting samples from the girl and hers, and the test came negative which confirmed her suspicion,” the officer said.

On Wednesday, Ganjeji filed a complaint at Bhoiwada police station. A case under section 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against doctors and nurses who were present in the labor ward during Ganjeji’s delivery.

“We are recording statements of doctors, ward boys and nurses at the hospital who were on duty on the day the woman delivered a baby. We have also written to the forensic science laboratory at Kalina to conduct a DNA test on the samples from both the parents and the girl, which will make things clear,” the police officer added.

Meanwhile, the hospital claimed that they put tags on infants when they were born and the tags remain till the discharge of the mother and the newborns, police officers said.

Dr Minnie Bodhanwala, chief executive officer at Wadia hospital, said, “As the allegations made by the patient to the police are currently under preliminary enquiry, it would not be appropriate to comment on the matter at this stage.”