Villagers in India saved a newborn girl after she was apparently buried alive.
The child had been left in a sandpit, but another child saw the infant’s feet sticking out. Rescuers believe the child was about six hours old at the time of her rescue.
Officials said the baby was taken to the hospital and is being closely observed.
The child was discovered in Odisha’s Jaipur district, a region of India where parents pray for boys, not girls. And, they’ll do whatever they can not to raise a girl.
Fanindra Kumar Panigrahi, chief medical officer for the district, said the baby is doing well and she is well within her parameters. Pamigrahi said the baby was full-term and weighs roughly 5.5 pounds. The doctor said the umbilical cord was still intact and the child’s body still have vernix on in it.
One rescuer, Alok Rout, said a child first saw the infant’s feet, which had been buried under a compost dump. When rescuers responded to the location, they were able to dig the newborn out. Rout said a piece of cloth covered the baby’s face.
Hospital staff have named the little girl Dhariti – it’s a Sanskrit word for “the Earth.”
The state-run welfare committee is expected to receive the child when doctors discharge her from the hospital.
Police did arrest the girl’s father after confessing that he buried the little girl alive.
35-year-old Ramesh Chandra Basantia is alleged to have buried the girl in a field near the home – two hours after his wife had the baby. Basantia, who works has a part-time driver, already has four children. Since the home is located in an isolated area, there were no witnesses to the little girl’s burial.
Police had already suspected that the little girl’s burial was the result of female infanticide – that she wasn’t wanted in the family.