While probing the burial of a five-month-old baby girl near railway tracks, police found that she toddler had died as her parents did not have money for her treatment and also could not afford a funeral for her.
On August 5, the Railway Police at Kalyan received information about the burial of a baby near Vashind railway station in the district. Police exhumed the body and sent it for autopsy.
The parents, Vilas Jadhav (20) and his wife, were traced and arrested, said Sub-Inspector S B Pol.
The couple earned a living by collecting plastic bottles lying on the railway tracks. Jadhav told police that Devina, their daughter, died on August 4 because the couple didn't have money to go to a doctor.
Worse, they couldn't afford to spend money on giving her a proper funeral with last rites, and therefore buried the body beside the tracks, police added.
It was Jadhav's sister who had approached the police when she learnt about the baby's death, not believing her brother's version.
However, PSI Pol said, the police were eventually convinced that there was no foul play and the couple was telling the truth. The girl's remains were handed back to the parents and buried in the police's presence.
