Newborn girl abandoned near pond, dies of cold

ROHTAK : A newborn girl was found dead near a pond in Berla village of Charkhi Dadri district on early Thursday morning. Police said the girl could be one or two days old and was found wrapped in a piece of cotton cloth. Berla sarpanch Jagat Singh noticed the infant early in the morning and informed the cops.

The body was taken to the local civil hospital for post-mortem, from where it was referred to Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS), Rohtak.

Police said there is no clue about the parents of the girl and locals suspect that someone may have abandoned the girl at night time and she died due to the extreme cold. The post-mortem report is awaited.

The incident has led to anger among locals who suspect the child was dumped by her family for being a girl.

“On one hand, people talk about Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, and on the other, such incidents come to light every now and then. This is a blot on our society and the guilty must be strictly punished,” sarpanch Jagat Singh said.

A case has been registered against unidentified persons under Section 318 (concealment of birth by secret disposal of body) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). Investigation officer Sombir Singh said they will search records of deliveries in the area in the past few days to find out the details of the parents of the girl.

Incidents of girl children being abandoned or killed after birth have been fairly common in Haryana, which has the dubious distinction of having one of the worst sex ratios in the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched his flagship Beti Bachao Beti Padhao scheme from Haryana’s Panipat in 2015.