Baby delivered after mother ‘commits suicide’, safe

JABALPUR: A pregnant woman allegedly hanged herself in a cowshed at her home in Madhya Pradesh’s Katni district on Thursday but was found to have delivered a baby, perhaps at the very moment of her death, by a lady sub-inspector who went to the spot after getting a call about the purported suicide, police said.

The baby was found entwined around the dead woman’s legs by the umbilical cord that had still not been severed, Katni assistant superintendent of police (ASP) Vivek Lal told reporters. The baby, a boy, was taken to the district hospital by the sub-inspector Kavita Sahni and attending paramedics where, doctors said, he is stable.

Lal said the police got a call around 7.15 am that the 36-yearold wife of a marginal farmer had allegedly hanged herself by a rope at her home in Katni, about 90 km from Jabalpur.

When SI Kavita reached the house, she was stunned by what she saw.

“I have dealt with several cases of hanging in the course of my duty, but this was unexpected. The woman was hanging and the baby was crying, entangled by the umblical cord and the mother’s sari. Since it is very cold, I quickly wrapped the baby in a piece of cloth, called the paramedics and waited for them to arrive,” she said.

The paramedics severed the cord and took the baby to Katni district hospital, police said. “The baby has been admitted to the neo-natal intensive care unit and has a good chance of survival,” an attending doctor said. The baby seems to have been delivered after a term of eight months, the doctor added. Assistant superintendent of police Lal said the cause of suicide has not been ascertained yet. “We have not been able to take statements from the family members as they were busy with the cremation,” he said. The couple have four children, the eldest being a 16-year-old girl.