Police exhume body of infant died after illegal adoption for post-mortem

The police on Monday exhumed the body of a female infant, who died a day after being rescued by the District Child Protection Unit (DCPU) from a couple from Thirupattur after an illegal adoption.

A forensic surgeon from the Government Medical College and ESI Hospital performed the post-mortem examination on the mortal remains.

According to the police, the baby girl was born to an unmarried woman from the Nilgiris and her male friend early on February 5. After the delivery at the Coimbatore Medical College Hospital (CMCH) and discharge from the hospital, the child was illegally adopted by a couple from Thirupattur through two women security guards of the hospital on February 18.

The police said a health worker from the infant’s mother’s village came to know about the illegal adoption and alerted the Childline, which in turn informed the DCPU. The DCPU rescued the baby from the adopted couple on March 10 and handed it over to a children’s home at Kinathukadavu.

A representative from the children’s home said the CWC handed over the baby late on March 10, without any medical record or details of care given after the rescue.

“The infant developed uneasiness around 4 p.m. the next day, following which she was taken to the Government Headquarters Hospital at Pollachi after informing the CWC. The child was then referred to CMCH, where she died without responding to treatment at 9 p.m. We are unsure how the adopted couple took care of the newborn and what was given as feed,” said the representative, adding that the body was buried in a graveyard at Teachers Colony near Pollachi on March 12 evening based on the instructions of the CWC.

A police officer said the CWC or DCPU did not alert the police about the illegal adoption on March 10, when the infant was rescued.

The Vadavalli police received a complaint about the adoption on March 13. However, the DCPU or CWC did not inform the police that the rescued baby had died on the night of March 11, the officer claimed.

The police arrested the baby’s parents, the Thirupattur couple, two security guards of CMCH and two others on March 14 and came to know that the infant involved in the illegal adoption was not alive and the body was buried. The police requested for a post-mortem, for which the body was exhumed on Monday.