Dead body of a newborn found in footpath near Silchar Medical College; "Investigating the matter," Police

On Monday morning in the Silchar Medical College & Hospital (SMCH), locals discovered the dead body of a newborn baby found near a garbage heap wrapped around in a cloth. This caused a stir in the area as according to the locals, the child had a Silchar Medical College & Hospital seal attached to it. In other words, the locals reckon that the baby was born in the hospital itself. They immediately informed the hospital authorities and the local police station. A police team came and recovered the body of the newborn child and took it to the police station. However, further information has not yet been made public by the police department.

According to the locals, they found the newborn’s body in a pile of garbage near the market, 50 meters from the main gate of the Silchar Medical College & Hospital. The corpse was wrapped tightly in a cloth and put in a packet and thrown in the garbage. Locals became suspicious when stray dogs roaming the streets suddenly gathered around a packet and when inspected by some people, discovered the body of a newborn baby. The baby also carried a sealed card of the Silchar Medical College & Hospital (SMCH) and the locals were horrified to discover the dead body of a newborn child abandoned near the side of a road.

Near the main entrance gate of the SMCH, tea and other food stalls open their shops pretty early in the morning every day. Nearby, a vegetable market is also there and all the drug stores and pharmacies in the vicinity stay open almost 24 hours a day. Now questions have started to arise as to who could possibly leave the dead body of a newborn child in such a careful manner in such a densely populated and market area.

The Silchar Medical College & Hospital (SMCH) authority have said they have not yet received any information in this regard. However, the residents of the area are demanding a proper investigation into the incident. Did the baby die before it was born? Or did someone kill it after it was born and left it to rot here? If someone has possibly killed the infant and left it like this, are there any parents behind it or has an outsider done that? The locals have been asking such questions. Women and mothers from different corners of the Barak Valley come to the SMCH under extreme difficulties and health complications. The hospital has a separate dedicated building for the treatment of children and mothers. But are people really safe to come here at all? Such questions have started to arise as well.

Last year as well, in the Shivalik Park area, a dog was discovered by the locals carrying a limb of an infant child in its mouth, which created huge uproar and panic among the people. Later, no further information could be gathered and the incident slowly faded away. Did the dead infant child born in the nearby Silchar Medical College & Hospital or not? Nothing was known back then. Now this incident of the discovery of a dead newborn baby near the main gate of the SMCH has started to raise some serious concerns among the locals as well as ordinary citizens.

Additional Superintendent of Police, Cachar district, Partha Pratim Saikia has said that they’re investigating the case and only after thorough questioning, could the mystery behind the death of the newborn child be ascertained.