DNA test reveals boy not delivered by woman who laid claim

Hyderabad, Sept 1: The mystery behind the alleged swapping of two new-born babies at the state-run maternity hospital in Koti here was resolved as the DNA test confirmed that the male child was not born to the woman, who had laid her claim on him.

Two families had laid claim to a baby boy born at the Koti government hospital. A couple, Shatru Babu and his wife Rajitha of Mahabubnagar district of Telangana, had alleged that their male child was swapped by the staff with a girl, prompting the authorities to order a DNA test to ascertain the real parentage.

Officials of the Telangana State Forensic Laboratories collected blood samples of all the concerned to identify the biological parents of the babies and the test confirmed that Rajitha had delivered a baby girl, police said today.

"Shatru Babu and his wife Rajitha were handed over the baby girl while Ramadevi and her husband Jangaiah were given the baby boy," Sultan Bazar Police Station Sub-Inspector T Sudhakar said.

Shatru Babu had earlier lodged a complaint alleging that a baby boy born to his wife Rajitha on August 23 and was swapped by the hospital staff with a girl. However, hospital authorities said that Rajitha had given birth to a baby girl and another woman (identified as Ramadevi) delivered a boy within a gap of four minutes.

Doctors attending to both women (who underwent Cesarean surgeries) say the confusion arose after the staff called out for Ramadevi to show the boy, and Rajitha's family members came and took the infant away. Doctors had earlier said they had tried to explain to Rajitha that she delivered a girl, but she was not ready to accept it. Following this a DNA test was conducted to confirm the parentage.

PTI