The body of a newborn girl was found in a shopping bag in an EMU (electric multiple unit) in Avadi on Sunday morning.
Police were able to track the parents as there was a hospital tag on the baby’s wrist. On Sunday at 7 a.m., a young boy who boarded an EMU at Avadi railway station spotted an unclaimed shopping bag in the compartment. He opened it, only to find the body of a newborn baby inside.
He immediately alerted the station master who in turn informed the Government Railway Police (GRP).
Suspecting female infanticide, the GRP immediately formed a team under the supervision of Thillai Natarajan, deputy superintendent of police, GRP and comprising inspectors S. Sekar and Jagannathan.
“We found a tag on the baby’s wrist and it read 312 – KMGH,” said Sekar.
The team then went to two of the city’s government hospitals to check their records to see if the baby had been born there. “We found that the baby had been born in Kilpauk Hospital to Malathi, wife of Venkatesan, a resident of Pillaivakkam in Vengal near the Andhra Pradesh – Tamil Nadu border,” he said.
The police team then went to Pillaivakkam and Venkatesan’s neighbours confirmed that he had left the body in a train. Investigations revealed that on November 7, Malathi had gone into labour and was rushed to the Kilpauk Hospital in an ambulance.
At 1.45 a.m. on November 8, she delivered a baby girl. “But the baby had a swelling on her head and was admitted to the intensive care unit. She was under observation on November 9. At 6 a.m. on November 10, the baby died,” said Sekar.
At 5.20 p.m. on November 10, Venkatesan told the hospital authorities that he would be taking his daughter’s body to his home for cremation.
“He kept the body in a bag and after that he got drunk. Along with his wife and mother, he then boarded an EMU from Moore Market Complex at around 10.30 p.m.,” Sekar said.
Venkatesan was holding the bag. “When the train reached Tiruvallur station, Malathi and her mother-in-law disembarked, thinking that Venkatesan would follow them with the bag.
However, Venkatesan forgot about the bag and left the train without it. By the time they realised, the train had left the station,” said Sekar.
For an entire night, the body remained in the compartment. “The father admitted that he had forgotten the body and said that he thought no one would bother to investigate,” said Sekar.
The body has now been handed over to the parents.
