Search on for couple who buried body of newborn girl in Kandivali

Unidentified couple booked for allegedly burying deceased newborn behind a nursery in Kandivali West; police searching for them.

An unidentified couple was booked on Wednesday for allegedly burying a deceased newborn behind a nursery in Kandivali West, police said and added a search is underway for them.

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Dinesh Pashte, a signboard painter, said in his complaint that around 10.40 am on Tuesday he was waiting for his friend near Charkop metro station before heading to work. Pashte said he saw a man and a woman in the vacant space behind a nursery, which is near the metro station.

The man was carrying a white bundle on his shoulder and the two sneaked into the nursery, he said. “I tried following them, but they disappeared in the bushes. When they came out around 11.10 am, there was nothing in the man’s hands.”

After informing the nursery owner about the incident, 34-year-old Pashte left for work. On his return at night, when he checked with the nursery owner, he was informed that he did not see anyone.

Suspicious, Pashte and his friend went to the spot with the nursery owner and found the ground dug. “On a hunch we called up the police at 12.30am on Wednesday,” Pashte, a resident of Charkop, said.

On reaching the nursery, a police team dug up the spot and found the body of a newborn girl wrapped in a white cloth buried there. The body was sent to Shatabdi hospital for a post-mortem. Investigations revealed that the girl was born a few days before.

The police have registered an FIR under section 318 (whoever, by secretly, buries or otherwise disposes of dead body of a child whether such child dies before or after or during its birth, intentionally conceals or endeavors to conceal the birth of such child) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

“We are trying to ascertain the identity of the couple by scanning CCTV footage in the area,” a police officer from Charkop police station said and added they are awaiting the postmortem report to find out the cause of her death.