Kanas: An American couple has adopted Sikha- who was found abandoned and crying inside a coach of Jagannath Express at Puri railway station about one year and ten months ago.
Sikha was found abandoned March 23, 2018 in a coach of Jagannath Express at platform number seven of Puri railway station. Some of the passengers had got down and some were coming out of their coaches while some passengers from an A/C coach could hear a baby crying. Upon searching, they found a newly born baby lying in a seat, unattended.
Child Welfare Committee (CWC) was immediately intimated. Local child welfare officer Manoj Kumar Tripathy reached the station and rescued the baby. Later, the baby was sent to Neelachal Seva Pratisthan at Dayavihar under Kanas block.
The Neelachal Seva Pratisthan had named the baby ‘Sikha’. Upon finding Sikha had some physical disabilities, she was sent to SCB Medical College and Hospital for treatment. Pediatrician Dr Sudhir Kumar Mohaptra had treated the baby.
Meanwhile, Tony James Mauldin and Clara Taylor Mauldin, an American couple had applied online for adopting a girl child. Upon verifying, Neelachal Seva Pratisthan had found the couple legally capable of adopting Sikha.
The couple had expressed their willingness to adopt Sikha even after knowing of her physical disabilities. All the papers relating to adoption were deposited in the court subsequently.
After getting the green signal from the court and Neelachal Seva Pratisthan, the American couple reached the Pratisthan November 2 and adopted the girl child.
Wishing her a happy and prosperous life ahead, child welfare officer Manoj KumarTripathy, chairperson of Neelachal Seva Pratisthan Priyanka Priyadarshini, staff nurse Sukanti and the housemother, who had been bringing up Sikha like a mother, bade farewell to the toddler.