A buried newborn living in India is fighting for his life

A 20 -day little girl who was found buried alive in the state of northern Uttar Pradesh fights for survival, according to the hospital authorities.

She was found by chance when a shepherd, who had taken her goats to the region for pasture, heard low cries coming from under a mound of earth.

Once he got closer, he saw a small hand coming out of the mud. After alerting the villagers, the police were called who came and dug the baby.

Police did not say who they suspected crime, but cases of similar abandonment and attempts to kill children are attributed to India’s preference for sons, which is widely recognized as the reason for its biased gender ratio.

The incident took place in the Shahjahanpur district in the most populous state of India. The baby is treated in the neonatal intensive care unit of the medical college and the hospital managed by the government.

The director of the medical college, Dr. Rajesh Kumar, told the BBC that the infant had been brought on Monday, coated with dirt and breathless while the mud had entered his mouth and his nostrils.

“She was in critical condition, she showed signs of hypoxia or oxygen deficiency. She had been bitten by insects and also an animal,” said Dr. Kumar.

“After 24 hours, we saw a minor improvement by her condition, but she has since deteriorated. She has developed an infection,” he added.

Dr. Kumar said he thought the baby was found shortly after being buried because his “injuries were cool”.

A team of doctors, including a plastic surgeon, said the baby and tried to control his infection, he said.

“The prognosis is serious, but we do our best to save it,” he added.

A police officer said their attempts to find the baby’s parents had not yet succeeded. The assistance line of children in the state had been informed of the baby, added the manager.

The Shahjahanpur incident is not the first time that a baby woman died in India. In 2019, the BBC reported on a premature newborn that was found buried living in a clay pot. After weeks in the hospital, the doctors said that she had recovered.

India is known to have one of the worst gender ratios in the world. Women face social discrimination for life and girls are considered a financial burden, especially among poor communities.

Activists say that a traditional preference for the sons has indicated that millions of children are lost in feticide and infanticide over the years.

Although most unwanted female fetuses are abandoned with the help of illegal sex determination clinics, cases of baby girls killed after birth are not uncommon either.