Newborn’s body found in T2 washroom

Delhi/ Mumbai: A newborn boy was found abandoned in the bin of Mumbai airport’s Terminal 2 washroom on Tuesday night, an incident which the airport officials are terming to be the first in any Indian airport’s terminal building

Delhi/ Mumbai: A newborn boy was found abandoned in the bin of Mumbai airport’s Terminal 2 washroom on Tuesday night, an incident which the airport officials are terming to be the first in any Indian airport’s terminal building. The baby was pronounced dead in hospital.

HT Photo (HT PHOTO)

An airport official said that the baby was found around 10pm on Tuesday. “A housekeeping staff found the newborn in the bin of the family restroom in the boarding area of the domestic side of T2. The cleaning staff alerted the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) and airport officials. The local police were then informed,” an airport official said.

Maneesh Kalwaniya, DCP for Zone 8 in Mumbai told HT, “The newborn found at T2 was a full grown nine-month male child.”

“The offence has been registered under BNS 91 and 94. Investigations will reveal further details,” he added. In the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Section 91 addresses acts done with the intent to prevent a child from being born alive or to cause its death after birth, punishable with imprisonment up to 10 years, while Section 94 deals with concealing a child’s birth by secretly disposing of the dead body, punishable with imprisonment up to 2 years.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA) spokesperson verified the incident but denied commenting as investigations were underway. An airport official however, confirmed that the incident took place in the family washroom located near boarding gate 43 and 44.

“A team of Sahar police rushed to the airport premises and took the newborn to the nearest hospital, where doctors confirmed that the baby was dead,” a second official said.

“The body of the newborn was sent for postmortem to Cooper Hospital in Vile Parle to find out the exact cause of death. We have registered a case against the unidentified parents of the child for disposing of the body of the newborn,” an official from Sahar police said.

An airline official said that the rules do not allow pregnant women to travel at least in the final month of their pregnancy. “Airlines have their own cut off period for not allowing pregnant travelers to fly. In initial months, such passengers are required to bring a medical certificate from their obstetrician stating that they are fit to travel and that there are no complications. However, no Indian airline allows women in their ninth month to take a flight.”

“If the newborn was found dead in the boarding area of the airport, it could have been a staff working there rather than a passenger who abandoned it,” he added.

“We are scanning through the CCTV footage of the airport to find out who disposed of the body and also coordinating with the airlines to get details of the passenger lists to find out the identity of the suspect,” another official from the police station said.