KOCHI: The Edathala police arrested a couple who had allegedly abandoned their newborn baby girl in an autorickshaw the other day.
The arrested were identified as Shefeeq, 30, of Nochima and his wife Sileeja, 27. They were reportedly not happy about having a baby within a year after Sileeja gave birth to their second child. Their eldest child is six years old.
According to the police, it was Shefeeq, a driver, who assisted his wife during labour as she had refused to go to hospital. Following the birth of the baby, he abandoned her in an autorickshaw, which was parked near their house. They later went to Sileeja’s home.
The couple had moved to a rented house three months ago as they wanted to conceal Sileeja’s pregnancy from relatives and neighbours.
Acting on a tip-off, the police took the couple into custody, and during interrogation, they confessed to the act. A case was registered against them under IPC 317 for abandoning the baby, and a local court remanded them to judicial custody for seven days.
Residents of Al Ameen Nagar near Edathala had found the baby in the autorickshaw on Tuesday morning. On an alert, the police rushed to the spot and shifted her to the neonatal wing of the Government Medical College at Kalamassery. Once discharged, the infant will be handed over to the Child Welfare Committee.
