An infant was stuffed inside an earthen pot, which was then partially buried in a field and covered with hay and other material in Uttar Pradesh's Hapur, nearly 50 km from Delhi, by a superstitious couple who were told that it would help the mother of the child bear healthy children.
The two-day old kid was partially buried inside the pot on Thursday and spent 48 hours in that condition before a man heard his cries and rescued him early on Saturday.
Kiran Pal, a resident of Chamri area in Panchsheel Nagar (formerly Hapur) district, and his wife were worried that the kid, born on April 6, would not survive just like their three previous children. Pal's wife had a miscarriage while two of her babies died soon after birth. Pal was worried that this child would also not survive and sought a fake godman’s, Naseem, help.
Naseem told Pal that if he would put the infant inside an earthen pot and bury that pot, partially, in earth, it would exorcise the ill-omen that was causing the death of his children.
Convinced fully with Naseem's prescription, the couple stuffed the two-day-old kid inside an earthen pot and buried the pot behind their house, in a field on Thursday.
"The kid survived miraculously and maybe because there was some opening for air. It was a local man who rescued him and informed the police. Both Pal and Naseem are absconding," said Superintendent of Police Kiran S.
{{/usCountry}}"The kid survived miraculously and maybe because there was some opening for air. It was a local man who rescued him and informed the police. Both Pal and Naseem are absconding," said Superintendent of Police Kiran S.
{{/usCountry}}Pal's wife, who had been called for questioning to the Kotwali, told the police that it was her husband who sought advise from Naseem and she did not know anything else.
The infant has been admitted to the local hospital, where doctors attending on him, described his condition critical. "The child is suffering from jaundice with severe breathlessness. His chances of survival are slim," said Dr Yunus Ahmed, a physician at the hospital.
"We have registered a case under sections 308, 336 and 338 of the IPC," the SP added.