Newborn baby girl found abandoned in Oman park

Muscat: An abandoned newborn baby girl was found by the Royal Oman Police (ROP) near a park in Amerat on Monday morning.
“The patrolling unit found the baby at around 6:30am. She was covered in a blanket. The umbilical cord was not even cut properly. The baby has been admitted to Khoula Hospital,” a police official said.
The baby, believed to be just two days old, was wrapped in a towel and left on a gravel path. Ambulance staff administered first aid and transported her to Khoula Hospital. A spokesman there declined to comment on the baby’s condition.
An official from the Ministry of Social Development said the department is aware and monitoring the baby's case, but cannot intervene until investigations from the ROP and public prosecution are over.
“We need to ensure that the baby is healthy and does not have any contagious diseases before we take her in. We would have to receive a call from the concerned authorities asking us to take the baby," an official said.
The official declined to comment on the baby’s nationality and said they would only do so after investigations are completed.
Meanwhile, shop owners around the park in Amerat expressed shock over the news.
“It is a surprise to hear that such a thing has happened in our area,” Rafi Mohammed, a salesman in one of the shops in the area, said.
Another person in a hardware shop said they didn’t know that a baby girl had been abandoned in the area.
An Omani woman living near the park said she had never heard of such a case before.