india

Updated: Dec 22, 2018 23:28 IST

Sweepers cleaning the Howrah Express at the railway yards in Amritsar on Saturday made a suprising but heart-wrenching find - a newly-born baby boy flushed down the toilet.

The baby was fully naked and had been sought to be strangulated with a dupatta (stole) when he was pulled out from the toilet by the sweepers at the washing platform.

“Around 2:30 pm, I got a call from one of our sweepers, who told me that he had found a dead body of a child from the train and . immediately rushed towards the train,” Sabhi, who oversees the washing work of trains, said.

He said when he entered the train he found the baby flushed down in a toilet of AC compartment D-3. “A part of a dupatta, which was lying out of the toilet. When we pulled out the dupatta, the baby, around whose neck it was tied, came out. We were astonished at seeing that the baby was alive.”

Sabhi said that they washed the baby, took to Amritsar civil hospital, and informed the government railway police (GRP).

Dr Sandeep at the civil hospital said, “When the baby was admitted his body was shivering due to cold. We, immediately, placed him in a heater to warm him. Four doctors, specialized in children, have been working to cure the baby, who is now out of danger. It seems the baby is of one day old.”

Station house officer (SHO) of Amritsar GRP, Balbir Singh, said, “The train reached at Amritsar railway station at around 10:30 am and then went to the washing platform. It seems the boy remained in the toilet for more than four hours— that too in severe cold weather. His lucky survival has left us stunned.”

He said they have registered a case under Indian Penal Code’s section 317 (exposure and abandonment of child under twelve years, by parent or person having care of it) against unidentified persons. Police have also been examining the CCTVs at different railway stations to who was behind the act.