KOCHI: The police in Kochi on Saturday arrested a couple from Wadakkanchery for allegedly abandoning their two-day-old infant on the St. George’s Forane Church premises in Edappally Friday night. Police booked Bitto, 37, and Pravitha, 29, under section 317 IPC for abandoning a child under 12 years of age, section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act and IPC section 34 for common intention. The inter-religious couple was already having three children aged eight, four and three.
Mr Bitto, the father, told cops that they decided to abandon the newborn fearing friends and acquaintances making fun of them for frequent pregnancy and financial difficulties. The first three kids are boys while the abandoned infant was a baby girl. According to the cops, the rest of the family were unaware of the pregnancy. “Even the couple realised the pregnancy only after six months, and by the time, it was too late for an abortion. So, they decided to abandon the child,” an officer said.
The woman gave birth around 3.30 am on Friday at a hospital in Thrissur. The couple then managed to leave the hospital without the staff noticing them.
They boarded a train to Kochi to reach the church and abandoned baby next to a confession box in the church. The police traced the couple using the CCTV footage widely circulated on the social media.
A person from Wadakkanchery who identified the man in the footage contacted the police. Mr Bitto was taken into custody from his residence on Saturday morning, while the baby’s mother presented herself before the police in the evening. The couple was produced before a magistrate. The infant was admitted to a local hospital on Friday after being handed over to Angamaly Sisubhavan. The health of the baby was found to be sound.
