‘Feared stigma’: Delhi woman throws her newborn son from 3rd floor

The woman admitted to giving birth to the boy at home on Monday and throwing him from the window of the washroom, police said.

A 20-year-old woman allegedly threw her newborn son down from her third-floor residence in east Delhi’s New Ashok Nagar on Monday because she was scared of being stigmatised as an unmarried mother, police said, adding that the woman is under observation at Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital and will be arrested once she is discharged.

During investigation, police checked several houses in the vicinity of the spot where the baby was found.

Deputy commissioner of police (east) Amrutha Guguloth said the New Ashok Nagar police station received information about a newborn baby lying in a pool of blood on the premises of Jai Ambey Apartments. “When police reached the spot, they found the baby had been shifted to Metro Hospital in Noida by passersby. Police reached the hospital and were informed that the baby was declared dead on arrival. The body was shifted to Lal Bahadur Shastri Hospital,” she said.

During investigation, police checked several houses in the vicinity of the spot where the baby was found. “When a particular house was checked in the process, we found traces of blood in the dustbin. We interrogated residents of the house and that’s when a 20-year-old woman broke down and confessed,” the DCP said.

The woman admitted to giving birth to the boy at home on Monday and throwing him from the window of the washroom, police said. “She said she was unmarried and was apprehensive of the social stigma attached to being an unmarried mother. Therefore, she tried to get rid of the baby,” Guguloth said, adding that the woman works in the private sector in Noida. It is unclear if she lived alone or with someone.

Police said that the crime team inspected the spot and collected evidence. “A case under sections 302 (Punishment for murder) and 201 (Disappearance of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered. The woman is under medical observation and will be arrested once she is discharged,” the officer said.