Newborn Baby With Umbilical Cord Still Attached Thrown In Canal After Birth, Body Found

The body of a newborn baby with her umbilical cord still attached was found floating in a canal Monday in the northern Indian state of Punjab.

Divers retrieved the body after someone spotted the child's corpse, and informed the authorities. The unresponsive baby was immediately rushed to a local hospital where doctors declared the newborn dead.

Authorities immediately launched an investigation into the girl child's death. The police said an unidentified person threw the newborn into the Bhakra Canal in Patiala district right after birth.

"We are analysing the Closed Circuit Television Camera (CCTV) footage of nearby areas and are also checking records at maternity centres and hospitals to find data of babies born in the past 15 days. This will help us identify the accused,” Hindustan Times quoted a police official as saying.

A case has been filed by police under Section 317 (Exposure and abandonment of child under twelve years, by parent or person having care of it) of the Indian Penal Code, Times Now reported.

There were no clues so far as to who might have thrown the child into the canal. It also remains unclear if the newborn was alive when she was tossed into the water body or was already dead. A search for the newborn's parents is also underway.

There have been several cases in the past where people have abandoned or killed a female baby as they preferred having a boy child. The State of World Population 2020 report released last year by the United Nations Population Fund stated India has the highest rate of female infanticide – 13.5 per 1,000 female births. The number suggests an estimated one in nine deaths of females below the age of five is linked to postnatal sex selection.

Earlier this month, the police in Punjab found a decomposed body of a newborn baby dumped in some bushes near a public toilet. The corpse was spotted by a passer-by near Lakkar Bridge in the city of Ludhiana. The unidentified man immediately informed police, following which the dead body of the newborn was retrieved from the bushes. Authorities said they believe the child had died at least three days before being found. The umbilical cord of the newborn was still attached. The police did not find any injury marks on the newborn's body.