A 32-year-old homemaker gave birth to a baby inside the washroom of her home and then allegedly threw the newborn out of the window, police said.
The woman is said to have later claimed that she was unaware of her pregnancy.
The incident happened on Saturday afternoon in a house on Picnic Garden Road where the woman lives with her husband.
“During the investigation, we found that the couple had been staying together since June 2022 and got married in November last year. The woman and her family claimed they were not aware of her pregnancy,” said an officer at Kasba police station.
The woman went to the washroom around 4pm on Saturday, after which neighbours heard the sound of a windowpane being smashed, the police said.
“After a few minutes, the neighbours said they heard the feeble sound of a baby crying. They went to the spot and found a newborn lying just outside a broken window,” said the officer.
The woman was confronted. She was bleeding and needed immediate medical attention.
Joint commissioner (crime) Shankha Shubhra Chakrabarty said the woman and the child were taken to a private hospital off EM Bypass where the baby died on Sunday.
“The woman said she had no idea she had conceived and that she was having a normal menstrual cycle. A criminal case has been started against her for allegedly throwing a newborn,” Chakrabarty said.
A case has been drawn under Section 315 of the Indian Penal Code, which deals with the offence of intending to prevent a child from being born alive or to cause its death after birth.
The maximum punishment under the section is 10 years’ imprisonment.