At least 14 human foetuses were found in Jharkhand's Deoghar district on Tuesday.

On Monday, 12 foetuses were recovered in a sack near roadside bushes in Dumarthar village. Two foetuses were found on Sunday at the same spot.

Majority of the foetuses were of females, 12 out of 14.

The bodies are now kept in sealed jars. The police suspect the role of nursing homes.

"There could be two reasons. One, a case of female foeticide as majority of foetuses are of girls or illegal abortion of babies as two of the foetuses were male. The role of private hospitals cannot be ruled out," a police officer told IANS.

FEMALE FOETICIDE IN JHARKHAND

In the state of Jharkhand alone, the number of female foeticide in 2011 was close to 12,000. The child sex-ratio was dropped by 22 points in Jharkhand.

"The drop in the child sex-ratio is higher in Jharkhand in comparison to the national figure. In Jharkhand, the child sex-ratio dropped from 965 to 943 between 2001 and 2011, which is 22 points, while the drop at the national level was 13 points, from 927 to 914," Times of India quoted Job Zachariah, the head of UNICEF in Jharkhand.