The 20-year-old woman accused of throwing out the newborn she had secretly delivered at the Haripad Taluk Hospital was denied custody of the infant by the State Human Rights Commission. The custody of the infant would instead be taken over by the Child Welfare Committee (CWC).

The woman, who was admitted to the hospital complaining of stomach pain, was kept under observation. Around 12.15 am, she went to the bathroom and delivered the child. Fearing the stigma of having a child out of wedlock, the unmarried woman allegedly threw the newborn out of the bathroom window with the intention of killing the infant, according to the FIR.

K Nazar, secretary of the Alappuzha CWC, told Onmanorama that a team had arrived at the hospital on Saturday to take custody of the child after the woman allegedly refused to feed or care for the baby. However, they had to leave without the infant after the mother objected.

“She had earlier said that she did not want the child. She even refused to feed the baby. But when we went there to take custody of the child, the mother opposed it,” he said.

However, Nazar said the State Human Rights Commission was unwilling to leave the infant in the mother’s custody, as she had tried to kill the child.

“We were advised not to hand over custody of the infant to the mother for now,  as she had allegedly tried to kill the child. We will return to the hospital on Monday to take custody of the child,” Nazar told Onmanorama.

He said the child would be moved to a childcare home and that legal proceedings would follow. A final decision on the child’s custody would be taken after the case reaches its legal conclusion, he added.

The Haripad police, who are investigating the incident, said the probe is ongoing and that no charges related to abetment have been added so far.

“The mother is still undergoing treatment, and the investigation is continuing,” police told Onmanorama.