MAHOTTARI, Aug 28: An infant stolen from her mother on Sunday by an unidentified person was recovered dead on Monday.
Eight-months-old Sonali, the daughter of Santosh Chaudhary of Aurahi Municipality-1, was stolen from her parents’ shop at around 6:30 pm on Sunday. Deputy Superintendent (DSP) Khagendra Bahadur Khadka of District Police Office (DPO) Mahottari informed that the infant was found dead under a mango tree in the garden of Feku Chaudhary near the Ankushi River in Bhangaha Municipality. Police are investigating the case.
According to DSP Khadka, the infant was found with hand prints on her right cheek and bruises from biting on the other cheek. There were also blue-black marks on the head and she was bleeding from the nose.
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“Going by the condition of the body, it seems she was murdered,” said DSP Khadka, adding: “We will learn more after the postmortem.”
On Sunday, Santosh Chaudhary was visiting his sister Rinku Chaudhary in Sarlahi, Madhubanpati on the occasion of Rakshya Bandhan. His wife Indresh was at their shop (Siddhanta Fancy and Readymade shop) in Aurahi-1, playing with their daughter. Suddenly, a bald-headed man probably in his early 20s came to the shop to buy a cap. He kept negotiating the price.
More customers came and Indresh started talking to them. The bald-headed man took the infant in his arms and started playing with her. After finding the mother busy with the other customers, he ran away with the infant.
Locals made a search for the infant girl and also informed police. On Monday, local entrepreneurs shut their shops to go search for the missing infant. Eventually, they found the infant but she was dead, informed police.
Manisha Chaudhary, a relative, said Sonali was such a lovely baby that people often used to gather at the shop just to play with her. Police recovered an orange handkerchief, dark goggles and a pair of pants. The CCTV footage of the shop clearly shows the man running away with the child.
Santosh and Indresh, who also have a son, had been elated at the birth of their daughter.
