NOTE | This image of a woman looking into a well was used for representation only. (File photo: Reuters)

If you're a parent, it's the kind of story that will give you nightmares.

On Saturday, in a village in Odisha's Cuttack district, a woman watched horrified as a monkey fled with her baby boy, who was all of 16 days old.

Now, the Times of India reports, police said the infant was found floating in a well.

He was dead.

"It is suspected that the newborn might have slipped from the clutches of the monkey and subsequently died after falling into the well," the report said.

Sources in the forest department told the news agency PTI that he was sleeping next to his mother at their home when the monkey snatched him.

Locals say the forest department took no action after receiving complaints that seveal people were injured in monkey attacks a few days ago.