The abandoned dead body of a newborn baby was reportedly found in the toilet of a private hospital in Kochi, India.
The horrific discovery was reportedly first found by the hospital cleaning staff. Following the ghastly find, hospital authorities were immediately informed to retrieve the corpse.
After a preliminary investigation, the infant was found to be have been delivered by a 17-year-old girl who was admitted to the health facility just the previous day. The minor was reportedly brought to the hospital seeking assistance for stomach pain on Wednesday morning, Sept. 1, the Hindu reported.
However, the doctors were seemingly unaware of the underage girl's pregnancy. The teenager was reportedly about six months pregnant, the police confirmed.
A case of unnatural death and another case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has been registered by the South Police in connection with the incident, Mathrubhumi reported.
Authorities are waiting for the young mother to recover from her premature childbirth before taking her statement regarding the incident.
In a similar but unrelated incident, a 16-year-old girl allegedly threw her newborn child from the toilet window of her apartment to hide her pregnancy from her parents. The incident reportedly took place on Aug. 3, at a housing society in Virar, Mumbai, India, Latin Times reported.
The newborn girl was found lying unresponsive in a pool of blood in the building’s duct area and was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival.
Officers inspected CCTV footage and the windows of all apartments in the building and arrested the teen after the investigators found bloodstains on a window of her apartment.
"When we checked the house, we found some bloodstains on the commode and we finally confirmed that the infant was delivered at this flat," Abhijeet Tailor, Sub-Inspector of Virar Police Station said.
After being questioned, the girl confessed to the crime, telling the officers that she was in a relationship with a 25-year-old man and that she feared informing her parents about her pregnancy. The teen has been charged under section 315 (act done with intent to prevent a child from being born alive or to cause it to die after birth) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The girl's boyfriend was later located and taken into custody for interrogation.
"We will be registering another First Information Report (FIR) on rape charges under the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against her boyfriend because the girl is a minor and her consent does not matter," the officer added.
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