Stray Dog Found Carrying Baby's Severed Head; Body Yet To Be Found

In a shocking incident, a stray dog was recently seen carrying a severed head of a baby in the Indian city of Madurai. Police are looking for the torso of the deceased infant.

On Sept. 8, at around 1 p.m., a boy who saw the dog carrying "something strange" in its mouth, got curious and chased it. The dog eventually dropped the baby’s severed head on the roadside opposite the Income Tax Office at Bibikulam and fled, The Times of India reported. The baby’s head is being preserved at the Government Rajaji Hospital.

According to the report, the baby’s head was covered with mud and sewage. The city’s sanitation workers joined the search and looked for the torso in nearby garbage dumps and drainage channels.

Police are now going through birth records for 10 days before Sept. 8 at the nearby hospitals and health centers.

“We verified that there is no record of such a baby at the hospitals. It is likely that the baby was not born at a hospital and perhaps the parents had secretly disposed of the baby after birth,” a police source was cited as saying by the daily.

Officers are also reviewing surveillance footage of the area to determine if there was any foul play. So far, they have not found anything suspicious, the report said. Police are also canvassing the area and checking for any information among locals.

It is unclear how the baby died or what was its gender.

Another police source told the daily that a DNA test can be done for the baby’s identification but it is possible only if the parents are found.

Earlier, police suspected that the baby could have been buried in a shallow pit and got exposed, The Hindu reported. Subsequently, the dog found it and carried it.

According to police, it is also possible that the body could have been dumped in the garbage by someone.

In June, a New Mexico man was arrested and charged with first-degree murder after he allegedly beheaded an acquaintance and played with the severed head.

The man told officers that he stabbed the victim multiple times with a switchblade before decapitating him. Officers arrested him without any incident.