Four children were playing with what looked like a rubber doll near a garbage dump. But something about that doll did not seem right, thought Bharat Sen, whose saloon was right across the street. A closer look and he froze. The “doll” was actually a shrunken female foetus.
Unceremoniously dumped at a garbage bin on the main road of Nazirabad town — 75-km from Bhopal — the foetus was five months old.
Shock waves went through the sleepy township on Saturday as the information spread.
"The children had pulled out the body from the garbage bin, they thought it was a rubber doll,” said Rambabu Tyagi, an eyewitness. Was it the result of an illegal abortion? The police are yet to say. 
Conceding that the case could indeed be that of an illegal abortion, station officer of Nazirabad, BS Gaur, told HT on Sunday that it would be difficult to trace the parents, since they might not belong to the town.
“It’s a busy road which passes through the town and anyone could have dumped the foetus,” he said.
“We are investigating. Even if it was a legal abortion, the body should have been buried properly.”
Sub-divisional magistrate of Berasia, Ashish Pathak, told HT he had been informed about the incident.
“I have spoken to the local sub-divisional officer of police on the issue. There will a thorough investigation,” he said.