Bathinda, February 19
The 16-year-old girl, a student of class VII from Gobindpura, who was raped by her step-father, gave birth to a baby boy early this morning.

Recovered by the police from the Guru Nanak Clinic at Balla Ram Nagar, the girl went into labour and delivered the baby at around 4 am today.

Born in around 28th week of pregnancy at the Women and Children Hospital here, the baby is premature and weighs around 1,220 grams.

The doctors at the Women and Children Hospital handed over the baby to the police. Doctors referred the premature baby to the Faridkot Medical College.

However, the rape victim’s mother and wife of the accused and other relatives took the baby to a private nursing home in the city.

“The child’s attendants said it would be difficult for them to manage at two places since the girl is admitted in Bathinda and the child would be at the Faridkot Medical College. So, they decided to keep the baby in Bathinda and got him admitted to a private hospital," added another doctor.

The newborn child is now undergoing treatment at a private hospital while his mother, who is stable now, is recuperating at the Women and Children Hospital.

Doctors added that the baby would require ventilator support and has a tough battle of survival ahead.

Doctors attending to the rape victim said the three nurses, who were arrested by the police during a raid on the Guru Nanal Clinic in Balla Ram Nagar for trying to illegally terminating the pregnancy, had administered medicines and injections to the girl.

The doctors added that this resulted in the early expulsion of baby from the uterus, before the full term of pregnancy.

"Instead of aborting the foetus, the nurses were preparing the girl's womb to deliver the baby early. They might have planned to deliver the baby and then kill and dispose it of at some garbage dump,” the doctors at the Civil Hospital said on the condition of anonymity. 

Bathinda, February 19
The three nurses, arrested by Bathinda police during a raid on a clinic in Ballaram Nagar yesterday, used to dispose of the post-childbirth products irresponsibly.

During the investigation, the Thermal police found that the nurses, Ramandeep Kaur of Shakti Vihar, Paramjit Kaur of Guru Gobind Singh Nagar and Khushwinder Kaur alias Khushboo of Shakti Vihar, had been running the illegal clinic for the past couple of years.

The nurses admitted that they used to conducted normal deliveries and used to dispose of the placenta and other bio-medical waste produced during childbirth by stuffing it into plastic bags.

“The nurses used to stuff all the waste products into plastic bags and hand it over to maids who disposed it of in the garbage dump. The nurses had been practicing for the past few years," said SHO Kabal Singh. Police officials added that the nurses met at a local nursing home and then left it one by one. The clinic in Balla Ram Nagar just acted as a front office. The patients were registered there, while the deliveries were conducted at the houses of either of the three nurses.

"The clinic has only one room with no provision to conduct deliveries. It was meant for only roping in patients and conducting their physical examination,” said the cops.

The nurses claimed that they had not conducted any abortion before the 16-year-old patient came to them. The SHO said no other case of foeticide had come to fore so far.

The family members of nurses produced a certificate claiming that they were trained midwives. However, the police has sought original records from the nurses families. While trained midwives can conduct normal deliveries, they cannot conduct any surgical procedure such as a Caesarean section or abortions.

All the three women belong to families with modest means. While the husband of one of them is a tempo driver, the other one’s husband is an LIC agent and the third one’s is a lab attendant in a private college in the city.

Meanwhile, the nurses have been sent to one-day police remand.

Bathinda, February 19
Dr Gaurav Grover of Raman Mandi Civil Hospital, who was suspended following allegations of negligence in handling the case of the six-year-old rape victim on February 12, was reinstated following orders from the health department.

The doctor was suspended after Raman Mandi residents accused him of not providing adequate medical care to the rape victim who was first taken to the Raman Mandi Civil Hospital and then brought to the Bathinda Civil Hospital.

Punjab Civil Medical Services Association (PCMSA) had been agitating against the suspension of the doctor terming it wrong and calling it a hasty decision.

PCMSA district president, Dr Beant Singh Mann, has reasoned that the six-year-old rape victim could not be attended to at the Raman Mandi Civil Hospital as there was no gynaecologist at the hospital. Also, by cleaning the victim, the doctor did not want to interfere with the medico-legal intricacies of the case.

Protesting against the doctor’s suspension, doctors had boycott the OPD services at the Civil Hospital for two days. The association today regretted the inconvenience caused to the public in the last two days. The OPD services were resumed today.

Dr Mann termed the reinstatement of Dr Grover as a positive attitude of administration and an achievement of the doctors’ unity.

Regional secretary of PCMSA Punjab, Dr Gurmail Singh, also demanded that the government should ensure sufficient staff in the hospitals so that they are able to handle patients in a better manner.

Secretary of PCMS Bathinda, Dr Jagroop Singh, said in the present circumstances, due to staff crunch, misunderstanding between those visiting the hospital and the staff on duty was bound to occur. In such cases, people must also cooperate, he said. Only if the patients and their attendants cooperated with the doctors, the latter would be able to provide better services, he said.

The members of the association met the District Health Officer, Dr Raghubir Singh Randhawa in the absence of the Civil Surgeon. President, PCMSA Mansa, Dr Harpal Sran, SMO Dr Satish Goyal, Dr Arun Bansal, Dr Ravi Kant, Dr Umesh Gupta and Dr Ashok Monga were also present during the meeting.

Bathinda, February 19
The health department today identified shops selling tobacco and its products around educational institutes as part of its efforts to make the district smoke-free.

District Health Officer Dr Raghubir Singh Randhawa said under section 6 A of the Tobacco Control Act, tobacco or tobacco products can not be sold within a 100 metre radius of educational institutes.

Health Department officials said that the list of shops identified will be taken up with the respective schools so that the school authorities can ask the shop owners to move away.

Meanwhile, the team also issued challans to six people for smoking in public and collected a fine of Rs 270. The district is to be declared smoke-free for which this exercise has been undertaken.

Bathinda, February 19
The income tax department conducted surveys at various business houses in the district. The IT sleuths said the surveys were conducted to check tax evasion under section 133 A of the Income Tax Act, 1961.

The surveys were undertaken under joint commissioner SK Mittal at the business premises of Radhey Gobind Construction Company on GT Road, Radhey Gobind Promoters Private Limited, GT Road, Pee Jay Promoters Private Limited in Bharat Nagar and Khosla Traders on GT Road. — TNS

Bathinda, February 19
Punjabi University Campus, Maur, organised a seminar on the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda, as part of his 150th birth anniversary celebrations. The event started with a video presentation of Swamiji's message to the youth of India.

Prof Ashok Gupta, senate member, Punjabi University, Patiala, welcomed and introduced the guests.

A talk delivered by Alka Ji from Kanya Kumari, enlightened the students.

The talk was followed by a motivational speech by Vijay Singh, convener, Swami Vivekananda Samiti, Punjab. He quoted real life examples on how people can emulate the life of Swami Vivekananda.

Prof Madaan said Swamiji's messages and teachings are relevant even now and will continue to be relevant as long as human civilisation exists. While referring to Swamiji's book "The East and the West", he added that Swamiji enlightened not only the Indians, but the entire mankind.

Bathinda, February 19
Members of the Punjab Students Union (Shaheed Randhawa) today organised a programme at the Government Rajindra College in Bathinda to celebrate the centenary year of the foundation of the Gadar Party.

The programme was inaugurated by the principal of the college, Vijay Goyal, who praised the students for organising such activities. The programme was attended by students from the college and the faculty members.

Addressing the gathering, the state leader of the union, Sumit, spoke at length about the principles of the Gadar Party. He added that the members of the Gadar party, who played a major role in the Indian freedom struggle, had dreamt of an India that would be free from prejudices on the basis of caste, creed, region or religion. That dream remained unfulfilled, he added.

Singer Jasir Jidda and his troupe presented a musical performance to mark the celebrations. The students of the college also presented a play, 'Kaun Sambhalu Desh'. 

Bathinda, February 18
The students association of the department of computer applications of the Punjab Technical University Giani Zail Singh (PTUGZS) campus, organised a kite festival, Udaan-13, to celebrate Basant Panchami, the spring festival.

A competition in decorating and flying kites was held on the occasion. The students, including the girls, took part enthusiastically and decorated their kites with various themes.

The head of the computer applications department, Sanjay Bhatnagar, lauded the students for making the kite festival a success.

The chief guest at the function was campus director Dr Jasbir S Hundal. The guest of honour was the registrar, PTUGZS campus, GS Bath.

Tejinder Kaur, Mankush Mittal and Navpreet Kaur were the student coordinators who worked under the guidance of Rakhi Bansal in making the event a success.

In kite decoration, the team of Sonakshi, Sourav and Gurjivan of the MCA got the first position.

In the kite flying competition, the team of Manminderpal Singh, Karmandeep Singh, Talwinder Singh and Harmandeep Singh got the first position.

Bathinda, February 19
Students from 14 schools, 15 colleges, and other sections of society took part in an on-the-spot painting and poster-making competition held at the Central University of Punjab (CUP), here today.

The competition was held as part of the university's Foundation Day celebrations. More than 260 students from government schools, Kendriya Vidyalayas, schools for special children, colleges and children of workers participated in the competition and painted their views and ideas on the theme 'Women in India' as well as scenery in the university.

Special children from Mahant Gurbanta Dass School for Deaf and Dumb and the students from a nearby colony, inhabited by workers, remained the attraction of the competition. CUP students go to this colony and teach the children free of cost.

The university especially chose the theme 'Women in India' keeping in mind the Delhi incident and other criminal activities against women.

Dr Jai Rup Singh, the vice-chancellor of the university, made special efforts to reach out to each group of participants and wish them luck and praise their efforts. The results of the competition will be declared on February 20 and the prizes will be given on February 26. 

Bathinda, February 19
Ravneet Singh Gill, a class VIII student of Delhi Public School, Bathinda won the gold medal in the state-level 100 metre sprint competition.

Kooh Sports conducted the state-level U-14 boys 100 metre sprint competition on February 6 in Chandigarh. As many as 80 students from Punjab participated in the competition. Ravneet also became the only student to be selected for the national-level competition. DPS principal Dr Arun Jee and Ravneet's coach congratulated him. — TNS