7-day-old girl child abandoned in Jhalawar

Kota: On the eve of the World Girl Child Day, a seven-day-old baby girl was abandoned by her parents in the jungles near a warehouse on the Jhalawar-Jhalrapatan road under Bakani police station of Jhalawar district.

Though the baby was rescued by passersby, she died while undergoing treatment at the government hospital in Jhalawar. Police have arrested the accused parents and will produce them before the court today.

"The baby was rescued on Tuesday evening from near a warehouse," said Jhalawar additional superintendent of police (ASP) Khushal Singh Rajpurohit.

"The girl child was immediately rushed to the government hospital where she succumbed after about three hours," he said.

Police have booked the parents identified as Viramlal Regar, 38, a resident of Thobadiya village, and his wife Sorambai, 35, in the matter under sections 315, 317 and 304 of the IPC and arrested them immediately after the incident. The girl child, who was born in the Jhalawar government hospital on October 4 was abandoned in the jungle as her parents did not want to bring up her, the ASP said.

During interrogation, the two accused said that they already had five sons and a daughter. A few of them are married with children. The mother claimed that she had accidentally conceived the baby and failed to perceive the pregnancy until it was too late due to her fat physical constitution. She eventually gave birth to the baby on October 4. The parents were ashamed as to how they would explain the newborn child to their grownup children and grandchildren, the ASP said, adding that the couple decided to abandon the child due to shame.

The couple left the baby in the jungle while returning to their village after the mother was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday noon, the ASP said.