Belagavi police are on the look-out for a couple who tried to bury a two-month-old baby girl alive.
This follows a complaint by members of the Mukti Dham Seva Mandal burial ground to the Shahapur police station that an unidentified couple tried to bury the child alive on Monday.
A man and a woman came to the Mukti Dham Seva Mandal burial ground in Shahapur in Belagavi on Monday. They were holding a baby wrapped in a white cloth. They were accompanied by three other people who identified themselves as relatives of the baby.
They had brought with them coconut, flowers, incense sticks and match box, a girl’s dress, some plastic bags, vermilion and betel leaves.
They began digging a small pit in the ground to bury the child.
Seva Mandal member Vijay Sawant and watchman Rajesh Bans, who were on duty at the burial ground, were nearby. When they almost completed digging the pit, the Seva Mandal member and the watchman saw the baby move slightly.
Shocked, they told the couple that the baby was alive and asked them to rush to a doctor.
However, the couple began arguing with them and said that the baby had died of brain haemorrhage and that the doctors had confirmed it.
However, Mr. Sawant and Mr. Bans insisted that the Seva Mandal will not allow the burial of a child who was alive and asked them to leave. “They were not ready to leave and began forcing us to bury the girl. They left only after I shouted at them,” Mr. Sawant told presspersons who visited the burial ground on Tuesday. He suspected that it was either a case of female infanticide or part of a black magic ritual. “Some astrologer must have told them to sacrifice the baby for some material gain. It may also be because it was a girl child and the parents wanted a boy,” he said. He is not sure if the two were husband and wife or were unrelated. The Seval Mandal does not have a record of the names or addresses of the visitors.
He said that the couple had come in a car and suggested that the police should study CCTV footage to trace them. He also suspected that the couple may have gone to other burial grounds to complete their task.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Shankar Marihal told The Hindu that a complaint had been registered and investigation started. “We have spoken to personnel at the burial ground. Officers have begun inquiries with shop owners and other possible witnesses on the approach roads to the grounds,” he said.