Punakha Police arrested a 21-year-old woman from Wangdue Phodrang for abandoning her newborn baby girl in Lobesa on Monday. According to the police, the suspect, a private employee delivered the baby inside her house and threw it from the toilet window, from a height of about 4 feet.
The house owner of the suspect heard the sound of a baby crying outside her house while she was returning home, at around 1.30 am, from a dinner and went to inquire to the suspect’s sister. The suspect’s sister also has a few months old baby, but the suspect’s sister told the house owner that her baby did not cry. Since there was a continuous sound of a baby crying outside her house, she informed the police.
Police immediately rushed to the scene and retrieved the infant. During the site investigation, police found the infant lying nearby a kitchen garden and a temporary makeshift toilet. Upon examination, police spotted some bloodstain on the toilet window, which led to the arrest of the suspect consequently.
As per the police, the suspect’s sister was not aware of the suspect’s pregnancy, though they stay together. Police say the infant is currently in a stable condition and the suspect was released on surety. The case is under investigation.
According to the Section 215 of the Penal Code of Bhutan, a defendant shall be guilty of the offence of abandonment of an infant or a child, if a defendant is a parent, guardian, or other person legally charged with the care or custody of an infant or a child and the defendant leaves the infant or child in any place with the intent to abandon the infant or child.
The penal code states two classifications of grading for the abandonment of an infant or a child. Section 216 says a defendant shall be guilty of the offence of homicide, if the abandonment of an infant or a child by the defendant results in death.
While section 218 states that the offence of abandonment of an infant or a child shall be a misdemeanor, which has a minimum prison term of one year to the maximum of three years.
