Caught on cam: Parents abandon newborn on church premises in Kerala

In a shocking incident captured on CCTV camera, a newborn baby, just 5 days old, was abandoned by its parents inside a church compound in Kochi.

The father, Beto, from Vadakancherry in Thrissur, has been booked by the police. 

The child was abandoned on the premises of St George church, Edappally by Beto and his wife, who fled from the place. They were later nabbed from Vadakancherry. 

They were seen carrying the child to the church and abandoning the newborn on Friday evening. 

On Saturday, the police booked Beto under Section 317 of IPC (for exposure and abandonment of child under twelve years, by parent or person having care of it, whoever being the father or mother of a child under the age of twelve years, or having the care of such child, shall expose or leave such child in any place with the intention of wholly abandoning the child) and Section 34 of IPC (acts done by several persons with common intention).

Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act (Care and Protection of Children) as punishment for cruelty to child, has also been imposed. 

According to the police, the child is barely five days old. Reports suggest that the couple abandoned the child, presumably because of their inability to bring up another one, as they already had three children. It is also reported that they had hid the birth of the child from relatives.

However, the police haven’t confirmed these details. 

“They have been brought to the station sometime ago. We have begun questioning them. Other details will be known once it’s over,” the police told TNM.