Dog seen carrying newborn’s body in MP hospital; probe begins

A stray dog was seen clutching a dead newborn in its jaws near the toilet of a government hospital in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore district on Saturday before a security guard managed to retrieve the body after shooing away the animal.

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Authorities at the civil hospital in Mhow, some 25 kilometres from the district headquarters, and police have begun a probe into the antecedents of the newborn and the chain of events that followed.

“As per CCTV footage, the incident happened between 1:30 and 2 am. A young girl was seen going into the toilet during this period. When we checked with staff, we found the 17-year-old girl had come here complaining of colic and had been admitted at 9pm on Friday. We suspect the girl gave birth to a child in the toilet,” Mhow civil hospital in charge Dr HR Verma told PTI.

Verma said the girl disappeared from the hospital soon after with an unidentified man.

Other officials said the infant, which in all possibility was stillborn, was then taken away by a dog from the toilet area before a security guard managed to retrieve the body.

“We conducted post mortem on Saturday morning and its report is awaited. A preliminary report has said the delivery was premature. The body has been placed in the mortuary. Police have begun a probe into this incident and we will provide all CCTV footage to help them,” Dr Verma added.