The shocking moment Indian police rescued a baby as her family was about to bury the child alive has been captured on camera.
Video captured on a mobile phone shows Indian police officers confronting a man holding a baby wrapped in a blanket while another man digs a hole in the ground nearby with his hands.
Indian officials confirmed today that officers had confronted the infant's grandfather, who was trying to bury the girl on a wasteland in Hyderabad.
"This morning, an auto driver at the Jubilee bus stand ground noticed two persons with a bag in their hand. They were digging a pit in the ground. Looking at the scene the auto driver immediately reported about the incident to police," said an unnamed police officer, speaking to NDTV.
The case was made public two weeks after a newborn girl was found in a clay pot at a northern Indian crematorium - later making headlines for her "miracle" survival.
In the latest incident, the two men said the infant had died in hospital. But police, tipped off by a taxi driver made suspicious by the events, said they saw the baby move under the blanket.
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Both men were detained and later released, with the baby girl undergoing treatment in hospital while an investigation is carried out.
"They thought the baby had died and were told by other family members not to bring the body home," police officer A. Srinivasulu told AFP.
In the other case of the newborn found in a clay pot, the baby was believed to have been left for more than two days before she was found by a man digging a grave for his own newborn daughter.
India has a growing problem with the gender killing of baby girls, seen as a financial burden because of the dowry to be paid when they are married.
Such discrimination is blamed for India's skewed sex ratio that stood at 940 females for every 1,000 males, according to a 2011 census.
"We are just happy that the baby was rescued," the officer said.
This article has been adapted from its original source.
