Baby Nidhi, who was abandoned by her parents at a hospital in Kochi, left for Jharkhand, her parents’ home state, on Monday. Members of the District Child Welfare Committee (CWC) boarded the Alappuzha–Dhanbad Express with Nidhi from Ernakulam South Railway Station.

Authorities will hand over the child to the Jharkhand Child Welfare Committee. It is up to the Jharkhand CWC to decide whether Nidhi can be reunited with her biological parents, who had earlier abandoned her due to financial hardship.

CWC Chairperson Vincent Joseph said the State Child Welfare Committee had sought the opinion of its Jharkhand counterpart before initiating the transfer. “They informed us that the parents are not financially capable of taking care of the child. Considering the earlier abandonment, the Jharkhand CWC decided to take custody of the baby,” he said.

Officials completed the necessary procedures swiftly. A seven-member team led by District CWC Officer K S Sini is escorting Nidhi to Jharkhand. The team is also accompanying another child who will be handed over to the West Bengal CWC.

Nidhi was just three weeks old when her parents abandoned her at Ernakulam General Hospital. Her parents, Magaleswar and Ranjitha, migrant workers employed at a fish farm in Kottayam, were travelling home by train when Ranjitha went into labour. She delivered Nidhi in January after being admitted to the hospital.

As Nidhi weighed less than 1 kg at birth, doctors shifted her to a private hospital for advanced care. However, the parents later disappeared, and repeated attempts by hospital authorities to contact Magaleswar failed. The state government intervened and took responsibility for Nidhi’s care.

A medical board was constituted to oversee her treatment. Nidhi required oxygen support for a week and underwent two blood transfusions due to anaemia. Doctors also administered multivitamins and iron supplements and fed her milk from the hospital’s breast milk bank.