Indian police save baby from being buried alive

Authorities in southern India saved a baby as her grandfather and another man were preparing to bury her, police said on Friday.

The police were alerted by a taxi driver who noticed the men digging a hole in a suburb of the city of Hyderabad, the capital of India's Telangana state.

Police confronted the suspects, who admitted they were preparing to bury the child, but said she had died during a failed surgery. They told the police that the body would not be allowed in public transport so they put it in a bag and started to dig a pit, The Hindu newspaper reported. However, the officers noticed that the girl was moving and transported her to a hospital.

"They thought the baby had died and were told by other family members not to bring the body home," police officer A. Srinivasulu told the AFP news agency.

"We are just happy that the baby was rescued," the officer said.

Millions of missing girls

The two men were later released while police conducted their investigation. The authorities suspect the incident was an attempt of female infanticide.

Read more: Why many Indians prefer sons over daughters

Many families in India avoid raising baby girls, who are seen as a financial burden, and many mothers terminate pregnancies after finding out the baby is female. A 2011 census showed a massive gap between genders in India, with only 940 females for 1,000 males.

The reports of the Hyderabad incident come two weeks after another newborn girl was found buried alive in the northern region in the country. A man found the baby in a clay pot while digging a grave for his own stillborn daughter.

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