Baby boy dies after parents ‘circumcise him at home’

A baby boy has died after his parents circumcised him at home in Italy, according to reports.

The five-month-old infant was brought to a hospital in Bologna by helicopter in cardiac arrest on Friday afternoon and died that night, the ANSA news agency reported on Sunday.

The prosecutor's office in the northern province of Reggio Emilia has opened a manslaughter investigation, and said the baby will undergo an autopsy.

The tragedy follows a botched home circumcision of a two-year-old who died of severe blood loss in December, in Rome.

In that case, the boy’s twin brother nearly died too, but survived following intensive care treatment.

Foad Aodi, the founder of the association of foreign doctors in Italy (AMSI), has appealed to health authorities to allow circumcisions at affordable prices and to lower the age of access to help fight clandestine attempts at circumcisions.

Additional reporting by Associated Press