A family in the northern Indian city of Bareilly has dug a grave for their dead child - and has come across a living baby. The newborn girl lay about 60 centimeters underground in a clay pot and was still breathing, as local media reports.
"At first, I thought my daughter was alive again," said the father of the dead child of the Times of India. "I immediately called the ambulance to make sure it survived." His daughter was born dead last Thursday and should now be buried.
"Her shovel hit the vessel and they heard baby cries," a policeman said. "They immediately called a cemetery guard who said he had just seen their parents there." The baby was about five days old.
In India, the number of girls has been declining for some time, as most recently emerged from a survey published in July on behalf of the government. Between 2015 and 2017, there were 896 girls per thousand boys - this figure was 943 in 2011, the most recent census so far.
"Just a few hours buried"
The numbers are indicative of a widespread practice: In India, it regularly happens that female offspring is aborted or killed after the birth of relatives. One reason for this is that families often have to pay a high dowry when marrying their daughters - although this practice has been banned for decades.
The alive buried baby, which was found now, should have been only 1.1 kilos heavy and in a critical condition. It was taken to a hospital, his condition has improved, according to police meanwhile.
According to the treating physicians, the baby was probably a premature baby. "It's possible it was only buried for a few hours," said a Times of India doctor.
The police are now looking for the person who buried the girl. As a result, investigators are analyzing images from surveillance cameras at a nearby crematorium.
