A 14-month-old girl is feared drowned after allegedly slipping off her mother’s lap and falling into the Hooghly near Kalna Ghat while crossing the river on a ferry on Wednesday night.

Twenty-four hours later, she has not been found.

Kalna police, searching for her, informally spoke to the woman and her husband. No formal complaint has been filed yet.

The incident occurred at 8.30pm on Wednesday, a little after the private ferry left Kalna Ghat in East Burdwan, with Tapashi Ghosh, 27, her husband Amit Ghosh, 34, and their two children, Trisha (14 months) and Arpan, 4, on board with passengers bound for Nadia’s Santipur. The couple from Santipur were returning home after a visit to a paediatrician in Kalna.

Amit said that during the ferry ride, his wife suddenly fell ill and collapsed. The baby slipped out of her arms.

A few passengers claimed the baby was pushed off. “The woman was seated comfortably, holding the baby on her lap. There was little chance of the baby falling into the river unless pushed,” an eyewitness said.

Amit refuted these allegations. “People are blaming (Tapashi) without basis. How can a mother push her child? There is no tension in our family. The kids had fever. So, we took them to a paediatrician in Kalna. A terrible incident occurred when we were coming home,” said Amit, a weaver.

Sources said the incident had left Tapashi so shocked and shaken that the police had to take her to a doctor in Santipur.

A Kalna police officer said river Hooghly was in spate right now.