JAJPUR: Three days after ‘miracle baby’ Dharitri was rescued from a field by villagers in Shyamsundarpur under Dharmasala block of Jajpur district, the police arrested her father on Tuesday.
The accused, Ramesh Chandra Basantia (35), admitted that he had buried his baby girl alive a few hours after she was born. Dharitri is his third daughter.
Jajpur SP Anoop Kumar Sahu said Ramesh buried the newborn near his house two hours after his wife delivered the baby in their house. As his house is located at an isolated place, villagers did not get any clue of the brutal act. Apparently, poverty pushed him to take the step.
Ramesh, a part-time driver, already has four children, including two girls. As his income was inadequate to maintain a family of seven members, he did not wish for another girl, Ramesh said. He had earlier aborted two pregnancies of his wife and even attempted to abort the last one, but failed.
Dharitri was born around 5 am on March 25 following which, he had a spat with his wife. Two hours later, he buried the newborn girl alive in a garbage dump near his house.
A minor schoolgirl first spotted the feet of the newborn moving and body buried in a vegetable field while she was going to Shyamasundarpur Primary School. She then informed some villagers nearby, who dug out the girl. She was breathing and the villagers immediately handed her over to an ASHA worker, Draupadi Rout.
The girl was admitted to Dharmasala Community Health Centre and later shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital. Draupadi said she suspected that Ramesh was the father of the newborn as she had maintained the records of his wife.
The District Child Welfare Committee (CWC) had filed a complaint with Jenapur police in this regard on Sunday. The fourday- old girl is recuperating at the District Headquarters Hospital and her condition is stable. The district administration had announced to observe the 21st day of the baby girl (called Ekoisia in local parlance) at Biraja temple in Jajpur town on April 14.
Newborn’s body found in PARADIP: The body of a newborn was found in a bush at Atharbanki market, 200 metres from Bjiu Memorial Hospital under Paradip police limits on Tuesday. Locals found some stray dogs feasting on the body parts of the newborn. It could not be ascertained if the baby was a boy or a girl. Bjiu Memorial Hospital Medical Officer Prafulla Chandra Dixit said the hospital does not have any data on newborns discharged from the hospital on the day.