Mutilated body of a baby found

Mangalore, April 5: Mutilated body of a seven-day-old baby was found near the Kumaradhara river in the Subramanya police station limits here on Monday.

According to the local people, a couple was seen moving with the baby on March 31. “My fellow autorickshaw driver saw a couple moving with the baby in the morning. But the two did not have the baby when they were going to the bus-stand in the afternoon. The autorickshaw driver told me about the incident,” said Rajesh K, autorickshaw driver.

Mr. Rajesh said he and other autorickshaw drivers went to the bus-stand and enquired with the couple, who denied having a baby. They took the couple to the police station. “But the police did not believe our contention and then released them ,” Mr. Rajesh said. The autorickshaw drivers searched in vain for the baby on March 31.

Mr. Rajesh alleged that the body of the baby recovered on Monday was related to the couple produced before the police on March 31.

Refuting the allegations, Sub-Inspector Sunil Kumar M.S. said the autorickshaw driver's version on March 31 did not give clear indications about the couple's link with the baby. “But we have details about the suspects, we will be inquiring them,” he said. The police had taken up a case of murder and awaiting the autopsy report to know the age of the baby and the reason for death. Dakshina Kannada Child Welfare Committee Chairperson Asha Nayak has taken exception to the way the police have treated the incident. “There are obvious indications that the couple had a child. The police could have taken the address of the couple before letting them free,” she said. Ms. Nayak said a report about the incident had been sent to the Karnataka State Commission for Protection of Child Rights