Bias against girl child reared its ugly head yet again in Andhra Pradesh in three separate incidents. In a gruesome incident, a two-day-old baby girl was buried alive by her grandfather in Utkoor village in Mahbubnagar district, about 100 km from here on Thursday.
Apparently, the pit was shallow and dogs half dug the baby. Some passers-by noticed a hand sticking out. When they dug a little more, the baby was revealed, still alive. They rushed the baby to a local health centre and then to the district headquarters where doctors battled for several hours and saved her.
In another incident in Gudur village of Nellore district, a new-born girl  was found abandoned in a room in a government-run health centre. The baby was delivered on Thursday and was found abandoned on Friday morning in an unused room. Hospital staff heard the baby’s cries and on opening the room found the baby covered by ants. They rescued the baby.
In yet another incident in Hyderabad, an unwed teenager gave birth to a baby in a government hospital toilet. She was taken to the hospital by her parents when she complained of severe stomach ache.
According to the police, when she went to the toilet, the baby was born. Doctors who examined her told the parents that she had delivered a baby. When questioned the teenager confessed. Police were called and they found the girl baby dead in the toilet. Police suspect the teenager might have been assisted by some hospital staff as the umbilical cord was surgically cut and tied.
The parents of the teenager who is a class 8 student said they did not know the pregnancy of their daughter as it was not very evident. Police are not discounting the likelihood of the baby being still born. However, they have booked a case against the teenager who has been admitted to the hospital.
In the Mahbubnagar incident, the police have arrested the baby’s grandfather Abdul Rehman for burying the baby alive. A local court on Friday remanded both the grandfather and the mother Mehroon Bi to 15 days judicial remand. They have been moved to a prison.
In a turnabout, Rehman and Mehroon (18) have denied that the baby is theirs. Mehroon told the media on Friday in the court that she and her father had claimed the baby to be theirs as they had been roughed up by the local people and feared more beatings by the police.
Rehman told the police on Thursday that his daughter had been deserted by her husband and that he already had seven daughters to take care of.
The police insist that there is enough evidence to prove that the baby was born in Rehman’s family.