Mumbai: Four days after a newborn was found dumped in a bin of a toilet at the city airport, the police said they had identified a 16-year-old girl as the expectant mother. The collegian and her mother were to board a flight to Ranchi when she experienced labour pain, the police said, adding that the girl and her mother claimed that it was a “miscarriage”.
The police are, however, verifying if the baby was born at all or she had delivered a stillborn or it was a foetus that was left in the bin. The post-mortem examination is awaited, said an officer from Sahar police station where a case has been registered.
Since the girl is a minor, a case of rape has also been registered against the man with whom she was in a relationship. He has been booked under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
The dead infant, or foetus, had been found in a bin of the women’s washroom at T2 last Tuesday by housekeeping staff at the airport.
The police said they had zeroed in on the girl after studying footage from cameras at the airport. The girl and her mother, who was aware of the pregnancy, had checked in the airport more than two hours prior to the scheduled time of their flight. The girl claims she had had a fall a couple of days ago, a police officer said, adding that she has stated that she experienced labour pain while at the airport.
“Footage from cameras at the airport shows the girl pacing about anxiously, before heading to the toilet with her mother. She has told the police that she had had a miscarriage in the washroom. The mother said she helped the girl leave the ‘foetus’ in the washroom bin,” the officer said, adding that the girl had then changed before the two proceeded to board their flight. The girl and the mother were tracked down from their flight ticket booking details.
The mother has said that she was aware that her daughter was seven months pregnant which had prompted them to fly down, instead of taking the train to Ranchi to attend a family function.
The fall, which the girl claims she had two days prior, worsened matters at the airport, the police quoted the collegian and her mother as saying.
The girl has claimed that her condition is now stable, but the police said that she would be made to undergo a medical test.
After the girl and her mother recorded their statements at the police station, they were served a notice, but were allowed to leave.