14-Day-Old Baby Found Dead In Hospital's Water Sump, Mother Suspected Of Murder

The body of a 14-day-old baby girl was found dumped in a water sump of a private hospital in India on Wednesday.

The incident took place at Sai Children's Hospital in Eluru city, located in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Following the discovery, the police took the infant's parents and her grandmother into custody for questioning. During questioning, the child's mother claimed someone abducted her baby while she was in the bathroom of the hospital. The woman, identified as K. Mahalakshmi, said she called up her husband and informed him their baby was missing, media outlet The Hindu reported.

The police, however, suspect the mother killed the baby and threw the infant's body in the water sump, according to TV9 Telugu [Google Translate showed]. But, the motive behind the killing remains unknown. The authorities told local media they were investigating the incident.

K. Mahalakshmi married Hari Krishna six years ago and gave birth to the baby two weeks back. The baby was not in a good health condition, which was why she was admitted to the hospital earlier this week. On Wednesday evening, the doctors said they would discharge the baby from the hospital. However, hours later, the baby was found dead.

The police arrived at the hospital and retrieved the body of the child from the water sump. Detectives then checked CCTV footage to get clues about the killing.

Senior police officer Dileep Kiran told The Hindu the baby did not have any external injuries. The child's body has been sent for an autopsy to confirm the cause of death. A case under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (murder) has been registered.

In June, a woman in the state of Assam was arrested for allegedly killing her child after the body of her 5-year-old daughter was found floating in a pond. The body of the child was spotted by the victim's aunt. Locals told the police the father of the child was sleeping when the body was found. "We suspect that the mother picked the child up while the child was still sleeping and drowned her in the pond. The father is a daily laborer. We do not think he was even aware that his daughter has been killed," a villager said at the time.