An infant girl was buried alive in Palanpur, just after her birth by her parents. The parents were caught on Friday. The father, Shailesh Bajania was apprehended near Kadi in Mehsana while the mother Manjula was caught in Manda in the Gandhinagar district.
Though the authorities strongly believe that she was dumped because she is a girlchild, the parents have another perspective to share. They claim that they took the decision because she was afraid they could not afford the treatment as the baby was undersized and unhealthy at birth.
The father, Shailesh, had recently lost his job as a farmland in Gandhinagar district. The couple had gone to Manjula’s parental home in Gambhoi as she was pregnant, the police shared. Manjula was only 7.5 months pregnant when she gave birth to the girl at around 6.00 A.M on Thursday. The baby girl was found by farmer Jitendrasinh Dhabi in his field which is in Himmatnagar-Shamlaji road near GEB office at Gambhoi.
In the past eight months, eight instances of infants being abandoned to die have been registered in the state. Out of the eight, five were unwanted girls. The infant under the soil was still breathing with an umbilical cord attached when the police found her. After finding her in such a horrifying state, they immediately launched a massive manhunt for the parents, who were found hiding in a village near Kadi of Mehsana.
Teams of the local crime branch and special operation group were ordered to be made after a police sub-inspector was informed about a pregnant woman and her husband from Chamunda Nagar of the village missing since Thursday morning. A case against the duo under IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder ) and 317 (abandonment of child ) has been filed.
