Woman who abandoned newborn at Sion hospital arrested

Police have arrested a 23-year-old woman in Dharavi for allegedly abandoning her newborn girl, who was allegedly born out of an illicit relationship, in a dust bucket placed at the toilet near the casualty ward of Sion hospital on Thursday

Police have arrested a 23-year-old woman in Dharavi for allegedly abandoning her newborn girl, who was allegedly born out of an illicit relationship, in a dust bucket placed at the toilet near the casualty ward of Sion hospital on Thursday.

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Rizwana Khatun alias Hina Rafique Khan, a resident of 90 Feet Road in Dharavi, was tracked down after a police team found her on CCTV footage.

According to the police, on being questioned she claimed that she gave birth to a girl in the same hospital, but since she was not married, she could not take her home and hence decided to dump her.

“We have placed her under arrest and are investigating if anyone else was involved in the crime,” Prashant Kadam, DCP of zone IV, said.

On Thursday, Saraswati Dongre, a cleaner at the hospital, found that the trash bucket was heavier than usual and on checking, she found a newborn in it. The infant was declared dead by the hospital.

The police said they had registered a case under section 315 (act done with intent to prevent child from being born alive or to cause it to die after birth) and 317 (exposure and abandonment of child under twelve years, by parent or person having care of it) of the Indian Penal Code.