ranchi

Updated: Oct 05, 2018 11:04 IST

An impoverished woman in Dhanbad dumped the body of her three-day old daughter who was born with congenital heart problem, on a national highway because she was too poor to perform the last rites, Jharkhand police said on Thursday.

Police officials said the woman, identified, as Dolly, was returning to Dhanbad with her sick baby girl from a hospital in Chas in neighbouring Bokaro district. The infant reportedly died on the way and she then allegedly wrapped the body in a plastic sheet and dumped it on NH-32 near a petrol pump, about 30 km away from district headquarters on Wednesday.

After the body of the infant was discovered on Thursday morning, the local police swung into action. A logo of the hospital found on the packet with the body helped the police trace the woman.

“During interrogation, Dolly revealed that since treatment cost had put her under heavy debt she dumped the body on road to avoid further expenditure,” said Nandkishore Singh, officer in-charge, Mahuda police station.

Dolly gave birth to a baby girl on September 30 at a private hospital in Dhanbad. On advice of doctor, she admitted her child to another hospital in Bokaro on October 1. The newborn had heart related problem and the hospital was reportedly charging Rs 8,000 per day as treatment cost.

The woman told the police that she was left with no money. So she got her sick infant discharged from the hospital on Wednesday evening and headed to Dhanbad when the child died in the vehicle she was returning. She then dumped the body on the road.

Her husband lives in Gaya in Bihar, 222 km northwest of Dhanbad and runs a small shop. The woman was in Dhanbad at her parent’s house for delivery of the child.

It is not known whether the couple had enrolled under the Centre’s health insurance scheme Ayushman Bharat—Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojna (AB-PMJAY) which was launched from Ranchi on September 23.