Mother Who Killed Newborn Baby To Hide Extramarital Affair Arrested

A 23-year-old woman in India was arrested Sunday for killing her newborn baby and dumping the body in a garbage van.

The incident took place in the western state of Gujarat. On Feb. 14, the body of the newborn baby was found wrapped in a plastic bag inside a garbage van in the city of Ahmedabad. The police said the driver of the garbage van alerted them, following which a case was filed and a probe was launched into the homicide.

Following investigation, the police received information about a woman who had given birth to a girl child, strangled her and threw her in the garbage collection van, Ahmedabad Mirror reported. The woman, identified as Shivani Srivastava, was arrested and during questioning she confessed to killing her newborn baby.

The police also found medical documents related to the pregnancy in her house. Srivastava told the authorities she was having an extramarital relationship, and had gotten pregnant.

"On interrogation, she revealed that after her marriage in Uttar Pradesh, she had come to Ahmedabad six months ago with her husband, a security guard. The woman revealed that she got involved in an extra marital affair in Ahmedabad due to which she became pregnant,” The Indian Express quoted a senior police officer as saying.

“On February 13 night, the woman had labour pain following which she gave birth to a girl at her home when her husband was at work. Fearing that her husband would find out, she strangulated the child and packed the body in a plastic bag. Then next morning, she threw the plastic bag in the garbage collection van,” he said.

The accused has been charged under relevant sections and further inquiries are underway.

Earlier this month, the body of a newborn baby was retrieved from a quarry pond. The child's mother was accused of killing the newborn. The incident took place in the city of Kochi in the southern state of Kerala. The matter came to light after the woman was hospitalized following post-delivery bleeding. Since the baby was not with her, the hospital authorities informed the police. While being questioned, the woman confessed to throwing her baby into a quarry pond after giving birth.