A seven-month-old baby who was reported missing by her parents who live on a footpath in north Calcutta was found a few hours later with injuries, police said.
The parents alleged that their child was sexually assaulted.
A case under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act has been started.
The accused is yet to be identified.
The police said an infant was found crying on the footpath early on November 30.
“The baby girl was spotted crying on the footpath around 1.45am on November 30.The police rescued her. Sometime later, a couple who stayed close to the spot where the child was found came to the police station to claim the baby. Earlier in the day, the couple had reported their child as missing,” said a police officer.
The child was taken to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital for examination.
A preliminary examination showed the child hadmultiple injuries, the police said.
Based on the parents’ complaint, the police havestarted a case of sexualassault against an unknown person.
The police have begun scanning CCTV footage to see if anyone was around the place where the child was with her parents or where she was found abandoned.
In a city where a large number of people live on the roads or under flyovers, children are most vulnerable to such abuse.
Similar incidents of kidnapping of children from footpaths have been reported earlier, too.
“A search operation has been launched to identify and locate the accused. Apart from checking CCTV footage, we are examining a lot of people in the locality to find out if anyone saw anything suspicious,” said a senior police officer at headquarters, Lalbazar.
No one had been arrested till late on Wednesday.