Unable to bear labour pain, UP woman slits her abdomen with knife; delivers healthy baby later

Bahraich: A 35-year-old pregnant woman on Thursday allegedly slit her own abdomen with a kitchen knife after she could not bear the labour pain and later delivered a healthy baby girl in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district, officials said.

The woman, identified as Nankai, a resident of Nandwal village under Baundi police station area, was rushed to the Fakharpur Community Health Centre by neighbours after they heard her screams.

She delivered a healthy baby girl through normal delivery at the facility, but her condition deteriorated soon after, they said.

Nankai was later taken to the district hospital, where doctors found a deep abdominal wound allegedly inflicted with a serrated knife.

"She was brought to the hospital at around 3.20 pm on Thursday. Her intestines had protruded, and she had suffered significant blood loss," the hospital's chief medical superintendent told reporters.

Given the severity of her injuries, the woman was referred to a higher medical facility in Lucknow for advanced treatment, hospital staff said.

A video purportedly showing the woman on a stretcher has surfaced on social media in which she can allegedly be heard saying that she cut open her abdomen due to the intense pain, police said.

According to neighbours, Nankai's husband had died of illness about six months ago, and she had been living alone. When she went into labour on Thursday afternoon, the pain became unbearable, prompting her to allegedly take the knife used for chopping vegetables to cut open her abdomen.

Soon, residents alerted emergency services, and an ambulance transported her to the health centre where she gave birth.

As her condition worsened following childbirth, she was shifted to the district hospital and later referred to Lucknow. Her mother, Neeta, accompanied her in the ambulance, officials said.