Hospital staff checking faulty toilet flush in MP finds head, hand of newborn baby girl stuck in commode; probe on

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In what has come as a massive shocker, the body of a newborn baby girl was found lodged inside a toilet commode in Madhya Pradesh's Chhindwara district on Monday, The Times of India reported.

Following the incident, a police probe was launched into the matter. The incident came to light after a female hospital employee found out that the toilet was not flushing properly. When she checked, she saw what looked like a hand and the head of a newborn. Following this, she immediately alerted hospital authorities who then spoke to the police for further action.

The hospital staff also searched the premises, including the postnatal care and antenatal care labour rooms, to ascertain whether there was any woman who had delivered a baby but had left without informing the staff. However, no such woman was found, reports said.

The hospital staff, with the help of the municipal workers, broke open the commode structure and retrieved the newborn's body at around 8 pm, according to media reports.

Initial probe said that the pregnant woman who delivered that baby might have come to the hospital during the Outpatient Department (OPD) hours, and it is possible that she delivered the newborn inside the toilet and tried to flush the body before walking out.

Police are currently scanning CCTV footage from 26 cameras across the hospital to ascertain what exactly happened. Meanwhile, OPD records are also being checked. But, according to reports, the toilet where the body was found was not covered by any CCTV.

Probe experts linked to the matter also said that the incident could be related to the societal prejudices towards having a girl child, but this remains unconfirmed as of now. A case has been registered in this matter and an investigation is underway.