Crime: Thimphu police are looking for the parents of a newborn who was found abandoned in a park below Voluntary Artists’ Studio in Thimphu (VAST) on October 11.

A 23-year-old woman, who visited the park that day around 6pm, heard the baby boy crying. The woman accompanied by her husband was in Thimphu for her medical treatment. They stayed with a relative near the Tarayana building and often visited the park.

“The baby was covered in blood, wrapped in a cloth near a wooden bridge in the park,” she said. “I looked around for the mother and waited for sometime before taking him home.”

The woman didn’t inform anyone and kept the baby with her until October 16 after which the baby suffered from jaundice. The couple then took the baby to the hospital.

A doctor reported the case to the police.

A police official said that the police crosschecked the delivery records of October 11 with the hospital but couldn’t tally the birth.

“It would have been easier for police to locate the mother had the baby been abandoned in a small town,” a police official said.

The couple wishes to adopt the baby for which they have submitted an application to National Commission for Women and Children.

“We didn’t think of adopting the baby initially but now that we’ve developed a strong attachment to the baby, we want to,” the woman said.

At present, the baby is with the couple in Gedu.

The Penal Code of Bhutan states that a defendant shall be guilty of the offence of abandonment of an infant or a child, if a defendant is a parent, guardian, or other person legally charged with the care or custody of an infant or a child and the defendant leaves the infant or child in any place with the intent to abandon.

Section 218 states that the offence of abandonment of infant or a child shall be a misdemeanor.

Police said this is the first abandoned case reported in Thimphu this year.

Dechen Tshomo