MUMBAI: A 24-year-old woman was booked on Sunday for allegedly abandoning her newborn boy at the Bhaktidham Temple in Chunabhatti. The woman is undergoing treatment in Sion Hospital and would be arrested once she recovers, the police said.
According to the police, the baby boy was found by two people who had gone for a morning walk on Sunday, Palak Jain and Roshni Bhul. They heard the baby’s cries and found him wrapped in a white cloth in the temple premises. The duo alerted the control room, after which the police arrived at the spot and rushed the baby to Sion Hospital.
“The umbilical cord was not properly cut. We found blood stains in a nearby public toilet. Maybe she delivered the baby there,” said a police officer, adding that blood traces were also found in a nearby shed.
The police said that further investigation revealed the identity of the mother, after which a few residents who knew the woman directed them to her house. Upon questioning, the woman initially refused to admit having given birth to the child and abandoning him. “When we informed her that she needed to go to the hospital and get checked, she got scared and confessed to the crime,” the officer said.
The police also said that the woman was divorced and was employed with a catering contractor. “She got pregnant with her male friend, and since the child was not legitimate, she wanted to get rid of the child and left him near a temple,” he added.
The police registered a case under Section 93 (abandonment of a child under twelve years of age) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. The woman is undergoing treatment in Sion Hospital and would be arrested once she recovers, the officer added.