Minor booked for abandoning newborn; boyfriend arrested

Police have booked a minor girl in Nallasopara for allegedly abandoning her newborn baby in a tempo on Wednesday night

Police have booked a minor girl in Nallasopara for allegedly abandoning her newborn baby in a tempo on Wednesday night.

The tempo in which the newborn baby was found on Thursday. HT Photo

Her boyfriend, a 21-year-old man, who allegedly made her pregnant, has been arrested and charged under section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

On Thursday morning, a dog, out for a walk with his owner, sniffed around a stationary tempo and barked continuously. Sensing that something was amiss, the pet owner checked the vehicle and found a newborn baby wrapped in a cloth, crying. He immediately alerted the Tulinj police who sent the baby to a hospital.

During the investigation, the police learned that the baby was born in a hospital on Wednesday night. When they checked the footage from the CCTV cameras at a nearby shop, they found that the girl and her family members put the baby in the tempo and fled.

By Thursday evening, the minor girl aged 17 was identified and booked under section 317 (abandoning a baby) of the IPC. Later, the man was picked up from Virar East.

Since the girl is undergoing her post-pregnancy treatment, she has not been detained yet, police officials said.

The case has been transferred to Achole police station.