More bones of infants recovered at Ratlam hospital

Feb 19, 2007, 22:39 GMT

Bhopal, Feb 19 (IANS) More skeletal remains of infants were dug out from the gutter of Ratlam's Christian Hospital Monday even as the hospital superintendent P. Williams, detained earlier following recovery of the bones, was granted bail.

Digging continued in the compound of the hospital and more bones of infants, suspected to be of aborted foetuses and of baby girls, recovered from the hospital, taking the figure to 437 from 391 bone pieces found Saturday night.

'Two people, Williams and sweeper Jairam, were detained Sunday for interrogation. Jairam is in police custody and police are trying for his remand for further interrogations,' a police official told IANS by phone.

The police Saturday recovered several skulls of infants and about 390 bones and skeletal remains of aborted foetuses from a gutter of the hospital.

Claiming that burying bodies on the hospital premises was against the law, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Ratlam Range, Gaurav Kapoor said the area of search could be widened.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh Health Minister Ajay Vishnoi said the bones could be of victims of 'foeticide or infanticide'.

'It is not right to compare the incident with the one in Nithari where bones of missing children aged between one to 14 years were found. Here initial reports indicate foeticide or infanticide,' Vishnoi told IANS.

'Only an in-depth inquiry can lead to any conclusion,' he said, adding that police were investigating the matter and all documents were being examined.

'We have sought complete details of the matter from the district administration and no one found guilty would be spared,' said Madhya Pradesh Women and Child Welfare Minister Kusum Mehdel.

Ratlam District Collector J.L. Malpani has constituted a committee of five members from the medical fraternity to look into the matter.

The committee would mainly look into qualification of the health staff working at the hospital, the number of abortions conducted in the past year, the unnatural deaths of newborns, disposal of their bodies and whether directives for their cremation were followed by the staff or not.

The incident has sent shock waves through the state where 431 boys and 254 girls were reported missing in 2006 alone. Of these, 265 boys and 138 girls were found while 166 boys and 116 girls are still untraceable.

© 2007 Indo-Asian News Service