She was a premature baby who weighed just 2.4lb.
Editor’s note: This article was originally published on November 16, 2020. It has since been updated.
A three-day-old baby was buried alive in a crematorium back in October 2019, in the state of Uttar Pradesh in India, leaving everyone shell-shocked. She was wrapped in a cloth and sealed in a clay pot. Miraculously she was found by some good samaritans who were there digging a grave for another baby.
The couple, Hitesh and Vaishali Kumar had lost their baby and were present at the scene to bury their own stillborn daughter when the laborers who were digging the grave hit the clay pot beneath the soil, reported The Sun.
Elaborating the scene, Hitesh said, "My wife had given birth to a stillborn child at a private hospital in Rampur Garden locality of the city. We took the baby to a village crematorium where the labors were digging a grave." That's when they hit the clay pot beneath the soil. "When they took the bag out, they found a baby wrapped in a cloth. She was alive and crying," he added.
The couple for a second rejoiced the moment as they thought their "daughter has come alive" but soon realized that "the voice was actually coming from the pot."
Hitesh continued, "We couldn’t understand much and asked the guard to have a look at it. When the pot was opened, a baby girl was kept inside." The devastated father immediately "called an ambulance and informed the police to ensure that her life was saved."
The police of Bareily in Uttar Pradesh, who were investigating the horrifying incident, said, "We are trying to find the parents of the baby and we suspect that this must have happened with their consent." They also suggested that the baby was found in such a horrifying condition because the parents probably wanted a boy. And when they found out it was a girl, they took this step.
The baby was rushed to the local hospital where she received treatment for a lung infection. The doctors who took care of her dubbed her as a "fighter" because even though all the odds were against her, she still survived.
Explaining how the baby managed to survive, Doctor Saurabh Anjan said, "Premature babies often need less oxygen supply to survive, she truly is a fighter. She must be receiving some oxygen when buried in the grave through the pores in the soil which was possibly loose as the grave must be fresh," as per The Daily Mail.
He then revealed that she was suffering from hypothermia and required oxygen all the time to support herself since "her lungs have caught infection and she is unable to take direct feed."
He added, "She used her brown fat also known as Brown Adipose tissue, and is a special type of body fat that is activated to maintain core temperature, to survive."
Dr. Anjan also disclosed that even though her platelet count dropped to 10,000 while the normal range is 150,000, the little one showed courage "and exhibited the character of a true fighter."
If you think this is there is all to the story, you're wrong. The couple who found the baby wished to adopt the baby girl since they lost their own.
One of their relatives said, "My sister and her husband were devastated after they gave birth to a stillborn but this baby has given some hopes to them. They are willing to adopt her and will approach the child welfare committee once she is completely healed and fit enough to go home."
BBC reported an update in December 2019 that the infant who weighed just 1.1kg (2.4lb) when she was brought in and appeared almost on the verge of dying, was now healthy and breathing, as per her pediatrician Ravi Khanna. He further revealed that the baby girl would be put up for adoption after a mandatory wait period.
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