Mumbai:
The residents and staff at Rizvi Complex off the plush locality of Bandra's Carter Road were in for a shock when they discovered a six-month-old foetus wrapped in a plastic bag in the compound of their building.
Recently, there have been a spate of similar disturbing cases including one in November 2010 when a prematurely delivered dead baby boy was abandoned by its mother in the toilet of Bhabha Hospital. In December the same year, a foetus was found dumped in a dustbin near Maratha Mandir Cinema at Mumbai Central.
The Bandra incident came to light at 9 am on Saturday, when Sanjay, a sweeper who was on his daily duty in the compound of Virgo Villa building in Rizvi Complex, stumbled on a bag. When he checked it, he found a foetus, and immediately called out to the building watchman Dinesh Dube (26) and the building supervisor Ramesh Sharma (38).
Sharma informed the wireless patrolling van at Khar police station. The police reached the spot at 10 am and conducted a preliminary investigation which revealed that the baby had been aborted before being dumped. The foetus was sent to the Bhabha Hospital Mortuary, from where it was taken to Cooper Hospital for a post-mortem at 4 pm.
Ramesh Sharma, the building supervisor, observed that the baby was fully developed. "It is a very cruel act. I cannot imagine that anyone could do such a thing," he said.
A police officer from Khar police station said a non-resident could be involved. "We can't say for sure if a resident of the building is involved since the boundary wall is low and anyone would have jumped over to dump the bag inside."
Assistant Police Inspector Navnath Sonavne of Khar Police station said a case has been registered. "When we were informed, we rushed to the spot to start the investigation. We have registered a case under section 318 of the Indian Penal Code against the unknown culprits. Further investigations are on."