Migrant worker delivers baby on road, walks another 150 km before finding help

Satna: Shakuntala, a migrant worker who was walking back to her village in Madhya Pradesh, gave birth to a baby on the roadside, on Tuesday. She was travelling on foot from Nashik in Maharashtra to Satna in Madhya Pradesh due to the coronavirus lockdown.

Her husband, Rakes Kaul said, “After Shakuntala gave birth we took rest for two hours then started our journey again and walked for at least 150 kilometers.”

Shakuntala delivered the baby near Bijasan border.

AK Ray, the Block Officer of Unchehara area in Satna, informed that the baby and the mother are doing fine. “There had been news that they had started from Nashik and after delivery which happened on the roadside, they continued walking for another 150 kilometers. Then information came that they had been helped by the Madhya Pradesh administration which gave them food and sent them to their place,” Ray told.

“We conducted their health checkups and now they will be sent to home quarantine,” he added.

Many migrants like Shankuntala and Rakesh have been forced to walk all the way to their native places as the country continues to remain in lockdown.