A newborn girl’s body was recovered from the Kharikat Canal near the Narol–Naroda National Highway 8 in Ahmedabad after local residents alerted the police and fire brigade on Wednesday, according to a report by Gujarat Samachar. The infant was estimated to be about two days old, and police have begun investigating how she reached the canal.
Residents reportedly saw the body floating in the canal near the Express Highway and informed the police control room and fire brigade. A fire brigade team reached the location and removed the body from the water. Crowds gathered along the canal after the recovery, the report said.
The report stated that the umbilical cord was still attached to the infant’s body. Police took custody of the body and sent it for postmortem examination. The medical examination is expected to establish key facts, including whether the child was alive when she entered the canal and the precise cause of death.
Police have registered a case against unidentified persons and started an investigation in the surrounding areas. The inquiry is expected to focus on identifying the child’s parents or caregivers, establishing where the delivery took place and determining when and how the body was placed in the canal. These matters have not been established in the information currently available.
The report also referred to possible lines of investigation involving a hospital discharge or an unregistered delivery. Those possibilities remain unconfirmed and cannot establish the circumstances of the child’s death. Police and medical findings will be required before any conclusion is reached about whether the infant was abandoned alive or placed in the canal after death.
The recovery has brought together three immediate public systems: residents who reported the sighting, the fire brigade that conducted the recovery and the police who are handling the criminal investigation and identification process. The postmortem report and further police inquiry will determine the next steps in the case.
