Newborn baby girl found buried alive in India

LUCKNOW, India – Police say a newborn baby girl has been found buried alive in an earthen pot in northern India and was hospitalized in critical condition.

Police officer Abhinandan Singh says the girl was found last Thursday by a trader who went to a cremation ground to bury his stillborn daughter.

The trader, Hitesh Kumar, was alerted by the cries of the girl as the workers digging a grave for his daughter smashed the earthen pot. The baby girl was hospitalized in Bareilly, a town in Uttar Pradesh state.

Singh said the police were trying to find her parents.

Indian families, especially in poor communities, generally prefer boys, as they consider girls to be a financial burden for educating and marrying off, which requires money as a dowry.