Police have begun an investigation after sanitation workers found a fetus in a drain on the premises of Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital on Wednesday, raising questions about how biological remains came to be in a manhole near critical-care and ward facilities.
The fetus was found at around 4pm while workers were cleaning a drain near the Medical Intensive Care Unit and ward number two, according to police sources cited in the report. The workers alerted hospital authorities, after which Medical College police reached the site and conducted a preliminary examination.
The fetus, believed to be around four months old, was subsequently moved to the medical college hospital’s mortuary. Police have registered a case and are examining how it reached the drain and who may have been responsible for abandoning it.
The investigation is also examining whether the fetus could have been brought to the medical college for educational or academic purposes. Police said the probe would establish the circumstances under which it was later found in the manhole, including whether it had been kept or handled by any department within the institution.
Investigators are reviewing available CCTV footage from the area and verifying hospital records and other details that could help identify the origin of the fetus. Hospital authorities are being questioned as part of the effort to reconstruct how it may have moved through or out of the hospital’s custody.
The location of the discovery places the investigation within a high-traffic hospital environment that includes patient wards, medical facilities, service areas and sanitation infrastructure. The police inquiry will therefore have to establish not only the identity of the person or persons responsible, but also whether institutional procedures governing the handling and disposal of fetal remains were followed.
Police said there were no immediate indications of suspicious circumstances, while adding that all possibilities were being examined. The authorities are continuing to collect CCTV footage, records and statements before reaching conclusions about how the fetus entered the drain.
The next steps in the case are expected to include further examination of the hospital’s records and questioning of personnel connected with the relevant departments. The investigation will focus on determining the source of the fetus and whether it was improperly disposed of, police said.
