Kolkata: An unaccompanied woman went into labour on a busy street in Koltaka the other day, but no passerby stopped to help her.
The 35-year-old Rani was lying twisting with pain on a pavement in Dharmatala in the city as hundreds walked by, India Today reported.
Kolkata was all decked up for pre-Durga festivities as wails of a woman in labour went unheard.
As Rani slumped on the street, some local traders alerted a traffic sergeant at the nearest crossing.
When traffic guard inspector Indranath Mukhopadhyay and an officer of Tiljala traffic guard Pranab Debnath rushed in, Rani was lying in a pool of blood.
The officers swung into action. In no time, members of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity rushed in and helped Rani give birth to her daughter on the pavement.
The police ambulance removed Rani and her newborn to a government health facility where they are being nursed.
If it hadn't been for the police, Rani would not have survived, eyewitnesses told India Today TV.