Madhya Pradesh: Newborn buried alive by parents over job loss fears; rescued by villagers

BHOPAL: A government school teacher and his wife buried their newborn baby boy at Madhya Pradeshs Chhindwara district out of fear of losing his job due to the state government's two-child policy for employees. Miraculously, the 72-hour-old baby survived. Alert villagers, who were on a morning walk, heard the cries of the infant and rushed to the spot. They discovered the newborn buried beneath a heavy stone in a shallow grave. The baby was immediately rescued and rushed to Chhindwara District Hospital with grievous injuries, including insect and ant bites. He is currently under round-the-clock medical supervision. The infant's parents, Bablu Dandoliya (38), a government school teacher, and Rajkumari Dandoliya (30), have been arrested and booked under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for abandoning and attempting to murder their newborn child. According to officials at Dhanora police station, the couple already had three children two daughters aged 11 and 7, and a 4-year-old son. To avoid breaching the states two-child policy, they had previously managed to hide the birth of their third child from official records. On the morning of September 23, Rajkumari gave birth to their fourth child at home. Fearing that the childs existence would cost Bablu his government job, the couple allegedly took the newborn into a nearby forest during the early hours of September 26. There, they buried the infant alive and concealed the grave with stones. However, a group of villagers, out for a morning walk, heard faint cries coming from the forest. At first, we thought it was some animal. But as we got closer, we saw tiny hands pushing through the stones. It was horrifying. How can any parent even think of doing something so brutal? one villager recounted. Doctors treating the newborn at the district hospital described his survival as nothing short of a miracle. The baby has numerous ant and insect bites and shows signs of hypothermia (abnormally low body temperature). Thankfully, he is now stable and under continuous monitoring, said a hospital official. Dhanora police station in-charge Lakhanlal Ahirwar confirmed that during interrogation, the parents admitted to the act. They said they were certain Bablu would lose his job under the two-child policy if the fourth childs birth became known. This fear drove them to take such a horrifying step. According to the latest data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Madhya Pradesh has recorded the highest number of cases involving the abandonment of newborns in the country.