A 23-year-old woman, suspected to be a victim of sexual assault, concealed her pregnancy, delivered a baby in the early hours of Friday in her apartment bathroom, and allegedly threw the newborn on the street in front of her flat complex situated in a posh residential area in this port city of Kerala.
The police said the woman had been taken into custody after being traced using the address on the Amazon delivery packet in which the child was wrapped and thrown.
The newborn was found dead in the abandoned parcel.
Conservancy workers of Kochi Corporation found the body of the child along a street in posh Panampilly Nagar here around 8 am and alerted the police.
According to city police commissioner S Syamsundar, the woman has confessed that she gave birth to the child in her bathroom at around 5-5.30 am on Friday and later threw the baby as she panicked.
It is said that the parents of the woman, with whom she was staying, were unaware of her pregnancy. They were also not aware of the delivery, as it happened inside the bathroom, which was locked by the woman, he said.
"The parents did not know about the pregnancy until the police came to the flat and questioned them," the commissioner said after the police interrogated the parents and the woman in connection with the incident.
However, in this matter, the police suspect coercion or a rape element.
"It is suspected that the girl was subjected to rape. In this matter also investigation will be done," Syamsunder said.
"We have shifted the survivor to the hospital to provide her proper medical attention. The girl will be arrested on charges of murder," the police official said.
The commissioner said that whether the baby was stillborn or it was a live birth can only be ascertained after the post-mortem.
She allegedly threw the baby onto the street three hours after the delivery, he added.
The city police chief also stated that the woman is unmarried, and she is in a state of shock.
The entire matter can be clarified only after detailed interrogation, the official added.
