CHENNAI: A newborn died at the Stanley Medical College Hospital on October 24 after her 19-year-old mother allegedly attempted to flush her down a toilet at a private clinic in Tiruvottiyur. Police are discussing altering the case to include murder charges after the postmortem report revealed injuries on the infant’s body.
Tiruvottiyur police sources said the young woman, a resident of Ennore who had completed Class XII and was unmarried, was admitted to the clinic on October 24 for labour pain. Though her parents knew about her pregnancy, none of them accompanied her to the hospital, police said.
Preliminary inquiry revealed that she had been in a relationship with a lorry driver from Ennore for four years. However, after she became pregnant, he allegedly refused to marry her and married another woman, police said.
At the hospital, the woman complained of diarrhoea and was allowed to use the restroom. After spending nearly two hours inside, she delivered a baby girl and allegedly attempted to flush the newborn down the toilet, police said. When she failed to come out for a long time, hospital staff grew suspicious, knocked on the door and subsequently opened it, discovering the newborn.
Both the woman and the baby were shifted to Stanley Hospital for treatment. However, the newborn died a few hours later, and the body was sent for postmortem.
Following information from the hospital, Tiruvottiyur police initially registered a case under sections of BNS on October 24. The postmortem report received on Tuesday confirmed injuries on the infant’s body. The woman remains under treatment and has not been arrested.
