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Thrown Out By Cabbie, Muslim Woman Delivers Baby Boy At Ganpati Temple, Names Him 'Ganesh'

Thrown Out By Cabbie, Muslim Woman Delivers Baby Boy At Ganpati Temple, Names Him 'Ganesh'
Midwife cleaning newborn baby for mother
Pascal Fossier via Getty Images
Midwife cleaning newborn baby for mother

In an incident straight out of a Bollywood script, a distressed Muslim woman in labour and her husband had to deliver their baby at a Ganpati temple with considerable help from locals.

Mumbai-based Ilyaz Shaikh, 27, and his 24-year-old wife Noor Jahan were on their way to the Sion Hospital at dawn on Thursday, when she went into labour. According to a report in the Mid Day, the taxi driver asked them to get out, when he heard Noor Jahan screaming in pain, as he did not want her to have the baby in his vehicle.

“We were so worried. My wife was close to delivering the baby and all we could see was a Ganpati Mandir. As soon as we got down outside the temple, some women, who were sitting in the verandah of the mandir, rushed to help us. We didn’t even have to ask,” Ilyaz, an embroidery worker, told Mid Day.

The women in the Ganpati temple in Wadala who had gathered there to pray early in the morning, prepared a make-shift delivery room with saris and bedsheets borrowed from nearby homes, for Noor Jahaan who was in the throes of labour by then.

After all the tension and suspense, Noor Jahaan delivered a healthy baby boy. Reportedly, she even cut the umbilical chord herself. "After that, I was called in to see the face of my son," Ilyaz added.

“I was tense when I was close to delivering in the middle of the road. But when I saw that there was a temple, I realised that God himself is watching over us. What could be better than giving birth in front of Lord Ganpati," Noor Jahaan told Mid Day.

The couple, happy with the fact that their son is safe and sound, have decided to name him Ganesh.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.