Four-day-old infant ‘trampled to death’ in India after police barge into home looking for accused

A newborn infant was allegedly trampled to death during a search operation by policemen in eastern India, sparking outrage and an enquiry.

The incident occurred when police in India’s eastern Jharkhand state barged into a home in the Kosogondodighi village in Giridih district on Wednesday, looking for an accused.

Police was searching for a man named Bhushan Pandey, who is also the grandfather of the child, according to Indian news agency Asian News International (ANI).

The agency quoted locals as saying that a team led by a policeman, Sangam Pathak, had gone to a house after a non-bailable warrant was issued against the accused.

The family, including Mr Pandey, had reportedly fled the house before the search team arrived, leaving only the four-day-old infant alone inside one of the rooms.

Neha Devi, the mother of the deceased newborn, told ANI that upon returning to the house after the police team had left, she found her child dead.

She and other members of the house, including the accused police were searching for, alleged the policemen trampled the sleeping child to death.

Deputy police superintendent Sanjay Rana said an investigation into the matter is underway and the baby’s body has been sent for a postmortem, said Indian media reports.

“On the basis of the postmortem report, we will take action,” he said.

Jharkhand’s health minister Banna Gupta expressed his condolences to the family and said strict action will be taken against the police officials involved in the incident.

“This country runs according to the Constitution, thus action will be taken against the police officials as well,” he said.

The incident has sparked outrage and condemnation on social media, with people demanding justice for the deceased infant. The chief minister has assured an investigation will be carried out in the matter.