Bengaluru: In a bizarre incident, a pregnant woman from Kerala, who was denied of medical attention by three hospitals in Bengaluru because of COVID-19 scare, gave birth to her baby in an autorickshaw on Saturday.

Twenty-five-year-old Shabnam, who hails from Pazhayangadi in Kerala's Kannur district, was first taken to a government hospital near her home in Gauripalaya by her mother and brother in an autorikshaw.

But the staff turned them away saying that the hospital had stopped admitting new patients because of COVID-19 threats.

They got similar responses from two other private hospitals. As they were heading to the fourth hospital, the woman delivered the baby in the vehicle near Sidhapura.

Shabnam's husband Jamsheer has been stuck in Kannur because of lockdown.

After the incident came to light, the woman was shifted to KIMS Hospital with the help of Bengaluru-based Kerala social organisations.

Doctors said the mother and baby boy are in good health.

"We knocked the doors of Vanivilas Government Hospital, Sanjay Gandhi Hospital and a private hospital. I was writhing in pain, but the hospitals did not show any mercy and shut doors on us," Shabnam said, while recalling the ordeal.