PANCHKULA, July 21 —A 22-year-old woman gave birth to a baby girl on the roadside with the help of the Panchkula police’s Durga Shakti team after going into labour en route to the hospital. The newborn was named ‘Durga’ in honour of the team that helped bring her into the world.
The incident unfolded just after midnight when Lakshmi and her husband Anil were rushing to the hospital on a scooter. As her labour pains intensified, Lakshmi was forced to stop and sit by the roadside in agony. A passerby quickly alerted police.
Within five minutes, a team led by Durga Shakti in-charge Usman and woman constable Anjali reached the scene. “When we arrived, the father was in shock. The mother was crying and saying she couldn’t bear the pain. The baby’s head had already started to emerge. We had no time,” said SHO Women Police Station, Neha Sandhu.
Acting swiftly, the police team—with no formal medical training—spread towels and sheets for privacy and comfort. As one constable comforted Lakshmi, another helped guide the delivery. Moments later, the baby was born and caught in the constable’s arms. Anil, regaining composure, wrapped his daughter in his T-shirt.
With no medical tools to handle the placenta, the team waited with care until an ambulance arrived about 10 minutes later. The medical staff cut the umbilical cord and rushed both mother and child to the hospital, where doctors confirmed they were healthy and stable.
SHO Sandhu later suggested the couple name their daughter ‘Durga’—a tribute to the police team that turned a roadside emergency into a midnight miracle.
