A stray dog was found carrying the mutilated body of a newborn baby, with its head and arms missing, at a park in Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur. The incident took place on Thursday, sparking panic among residents.
A resident, Amit Trivedi, first spotted the stray dog running towards Friends Park carrying an object wrapped in cloth. Suspicious, he chased the dog, which dropped the body and ran away. When Trivedi, along with other locals, removed the cloth, they found the newborn's body without arms and hands, and its chest severely torn.
Investigation revealed that, based on the umbilical cord, it appears that the baby was born 24 to 36 hours ago.
The police found the child's palm with an IV cannula attached to it - indicating that the baby was born in a hospital or nursing home.
Cops suspect that someone may have performed an illegal abortion and thrown the newborn into a garbage heap immediately after birth, from where the stray dog dragged it to the park. They also suspect another possibility that the child may have died first and then been buried, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) South Deependra Nath told NDTV.
The child's body has been sent for a post-mortem, officials said.
The police are gathering information based on the IV cannula and CCTV footage, they added.
