Clinic keeps baby as collateral

GUWAHATI, India, Jan. 11 (UPI) -- Employees of a nursing home in India could face criminal charges for seizing a newborn baby whose mother was unable to pay fees.

Police rounded up six workers at the Guwahati Maternity Home Wednesday and brought them in for questioning, The Calcutta Telegraph reported. Protesters surrounded the home, demanding that Monika Pegu-Singh's baby be returned to her immediately.

Pegu-Singh said she came to the city looking for her husband, a bus driver for Assam State Transport Corp. When she unexpectedly went into labor, helpful strangers brought her to the nursing home.

"I was thankful when I found myself in the nursing home, little knowing what would follow," she said.

After she gave birth to a healthy 6-pound daughter Jan. 2, the maternity home refused to discharge her until she paid a bill of 3,000 rupees ($67).

The clinic allegedly threw her out at 6 a.m. Jan. 5, telling her she could not take her baby away until she returned with the money. A woman who found Pegu-Singh crying took up a collection for part of the money and helped her get in touch with police.