COIMBATORE: It was celebration time at city-based NGO Eera Nenjam on Monday when inmates enjoyed the baby shower of one of their members.

The NGO, that was started in 2012, has been working in rehabilitating abandoned and destitute women. It has also been helping aged people reunite with their families.

Twenty-one-year-old Rajalakshmi, who came to Eera Nenjam, was abandoned by her boy friend.

Rajalakshmi, who lost her parents at a very young age, was brought up by her relatives at Manachanallur in Tiruchi. When she did not fare well in her studies, they brought her to Coimbatore, where she joined as a worker in a private mill at Kovilpalayam.

A co-worker befriended her and the two became very close. Her boy friend abandoned her when she became pregnant.

Rajalakshmi’s relatives lodged a complaint with the police and also submitted a petition to the Collector, T.N. Hariharan.

According to P. Mahindren, founder of Eera Nenjam, Rajalakshmi was brought to the home two months back by one of his friends. “Her relatives were not ready to take her home. She was five months pregnant then. We decided to give her shelter and protection. Today we decided to conduct the baby shower ceremony for her. It was celebration time as every inmate enjoyed the function,” he told The Covai Post.