Girl child found after Varanasi blast sent to orphanage

VARANASI - A one-and-a-half year-old girl child, who was found here after the bomb blast that ripped Varanasi’s Dashashwamedh Ghat on Tuesday evening, was sent to an orphanage today.

The toddler was found at Sheetla Ghat, near the site of the blast, but so far no one has come forward to claim her.

A priest, who was taking care of the child, handed her over to the police.

The girl has now been sent to Child Line, a voluntary organisation for the rehabilitation of children.

According to the caretakers of the orphanage, the child will stay with them until she gets reunite with her parents.

“Last night, we got a call from the blast site and came to know that there is an abandoned child at the site. They (police) asked us whether we will go to receive the child today or tomorrow; we said, ‘we are coming today itself,’ and then immediately we went there,” said Sister Lincy, the Central Coordinator of Child Line.

“We were made to sit in the police station because this child was with mediapersons. Then that person brought the child. This child is one-and-a-half years old, and the time we got this child, she was coughing badly,” she added.

According to the police, the child’s parents are either injured or they had abandoned her intentionally.

On Tuesday, a bomb blast rocked the Dashashwamedh Ghat on the riverbanks of Ganga near the Vishwanath temple in Varanasi.

A two-year-old girl was killed and about 37 people including foreign tourists injured in the blast and the ensuing stampede.

The militant outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM) claimed responsibility for the blast by sending e-mails to media houses. (ANI)