MP teacher, wife bury newborn alive over fear of losing job under two-child policy

Bablu Dandolia, 38, and his wife Rajkumari, 28, allegedly abandoned the child three days after his birth in Nandanwadi village of Dhanora area on September 26. (Image credit: Twitter)

A government school teacher, along with his wife, buried his three-day-old son alive in a forest in MP’s Chhindwara district over fear of losing his job under the state’s two-child policy, The Times of India reported. Under MP's two-child policy, no government employee can have more than two children.

The couple’s fourth child, a baby boy, survived after villagers heard his cries from beneath the stones, rescued him, and rushed him to the hospital. As per the report, Bablu Dandolia, 38, and his wife Rajkumari, 28, allegedly abandoned the child three days after his birth in Nandanwadi village of Dhanora area on September 26.

The incident surfaced with the couple’s arrest on Tuesday, coinciding with NCRB data revealing that Madhya Pradesh topped infant abandonment cases for the fourth consecutive year. While they were initially booked for abandonment, the charges were upgraded to attempt to murder after a video emerged showing the baby buried under stones.

Police were quoted by TOI as saying that the couple already has three children - an 11-year-old daughter, a seven-year-old daughter & a four-year-old son.

"They told us they had managed to conceal the third child from records but feared Bablu would lose his job if a fourth was registered," Dhanora PS in-charge Lakhanlal Ahirwar told TOI.

"On Sept 23, Rajkumari gave birth to a boy. Three days later, they carried him on a motorcycle to the forest and abandoned him," the officer added.