Woman arrested within 6 hours for abandoning newborn in Thane

Thane: The Kalwa police arrested a 24-year-old woman for allegedly abandoning a newborn baby girl in Bhaskarnagar, in the Kalwa area. The arrest was made within six hours of discovering the infant, said a police official.
The accused, identified as Kanchan Gound, a resident of Krishna Nagar, was apprehended following an intensive investigation by the local police.The incident unfolded around 6:00AM when police patrolling units received information about an abandoned newborn near a grocery store in Bhaskarnagar, informed a police official privy to the probe.
Responding promptly to the situation, officers found the infant in a distressed condition and immediately rushed her to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa, where she was admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), added the officer.
Senior Inspector Ashok Utekar led the investigation, with the Crime Detection Unit under Police Sub-Inspector Sagar Sangve analyzing CCTV footage and gathering intelligence from local sources. They located the culprit behind the incident that left the baby to die. Their efforts quickly led to the identification and arrest of the suspect.
"During interrogation, a disturbing story emerged. The investigators discovered that the newborn was actually the child of the accused's younger, 19-year-old sister. The abandonment was reportedly motivated by fears of social stigma associated with the birth out of wedlock. The police have registered a case under Sections 91 and 93 of the Indian Penal Code 2023. Further probe into the case is underway," said Subhash Burse, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-1).