Do More With Reuters
Partner Services

Dogs "rescue" girl abandoned by mother

Tue Apr 22, 2008 11:32pm IST
 
Email | Print | | Single Page
[-] Text [+]

PATNA, India (Reuters) - Hundreds of villagers have flocked to a remote Indian village to see a baby girl who was saved by stray dogs after she was abandoned in a mound of mud by her mother, officials said on Tuesday.

Villagers in the eastern state of Bihar saved the newborn on the weekend after they saw three dogs barking near a baby covered with mud.

"The dogs removed the soil around and began to bark and the baby started crying which drew attention of the local villagers," Ram Narayan Sahani, a senior government official, said on Tuesday from Bihar's Samastipur district.

"The girl is crying but is safe in the lap of a childless couple who have adopted her."

Police said they were looking for the girl's mother, who they think had left the girl to die.

Female foeticide, though illegal in India, is widespread as boys are traditionally preferred to girls as breadwinners, and families have to pay huge dowries to marry off their daughters.

The United Nations says an estimated 2,000 unborn girls are illegally aborted every day in India.

(Writing by Bappa Majumdar; Editing by Alex Richardson)

India Investment Summit 2009
India Investment Summit 2009

Top executives and bankers discuss their own plans and the broader opportunities and challenges for India during the Reuters India Investment Summit in Mumbai and Bangalore.  Full Coverage | Blog 

Reuters correspondent Sourav Mishra recounts the unforgettable night of Nov. 26 at Mumbai's Leopold Cafe
Back from the Dead
REUTERS WITNESS - 26/11

Reuters correspondent Sourav Mishra recounts the night of Nov. 26 at Leopold Cafe.  Full Article | Full Coverage 

Photo
One Year Later

A look back at the events of 26/11 ahead of the first anniversary of the militant attacks in Mumbai that killed 166 people.  Slideshow | Full Coverage 

Cops on trail of "gingerbread town" vandals 12:30am IST 

OSLO (Reuters) - The people of Bergen rolled out the cookie dough Monday as local police tried to sniff out vandals who destroyed the Norwegian city's traditional Christmas decoration -- a town of gingerbread houses.  Full Article