A group of children rescued a newborn baby from a pack of stray dogs in the North Kafrul area of the capital on Tuesday.
The eight to 10-year-olds were playing near a bush near the Old Airport around 4pm when they saw some dogs dragging something with their mouths and heard the sound of a baby crying from behind a nearby bush.
The children scared the dogs off and peered behind the bush where they found a baby with its face covered in blood.
They shouted for help.
Neighbour Jahanara Begum, who lives nearby, brought the injured baby to hospital, first to the Children’s Hospital in Agargaon and then to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
She said: “How could anybody abandon such a beautiful child? They are animals posing as humans.”
The infant is being treated at the intensive care unit of the DMCH children’s ward.
“We will provide the child with the best possible treatment,” DMCH Assistant Director Khaza Abdul Gafur told the Dhaka Tribune. “A five-member medical board has been formed to treat the child.”
Professor Dr Abid Hossain Mollah, chief of the medical board, told the Dhaka Tribune that the infant was on life support and had been given a strong dose of antibiotics.
He said the medicine would prevent infection. The infant’s body showed evidence of dog bites and was infested with insects, he said.
The child currently weighs less than 2kg and bears injury marks on her nose, lips and face. “Once the girl is out of danger, we will perform plastic surgery to cover up the injuries,” Dr Abid said.
Jahanara was accompanied by two other women, Lipi and Tania, when she brought the infant to the hospital. Lipi, who lives in Kafrul, says she wants to keep the child once she is better and adopt her as her daughter.
