16-day-old baby was stolen by a monkey while sleeping in the house
The body of a newborn baby in India was found in a well near his home.
Monkeys in Odisha state, India, frequently break into human settlements. Photo:The Jakarta Post |
The 16-day-old baby was sleeping under a mosquito net at his home in Talabasta village, Cuttack district, Odisha state, India, on March 30 when he was suddenly kidnapped by a pink-faced rhesus monkey.
"The mother said she saw the monkey snatching her child away. She screamed but the animal took the child up to the roof and disappeared," deputy police investigator SM Baral told the news agency.AFP.
"We conducted a search with the forest rangers. Yesterday (April 1), we found the baby dead in the well," Baral said. The autopsy results showed that the baby died of suffocation when he fell into the well.
"Since there were no injuries on the child's body, it is likely that the monkey dropped the child down the well," she added.
According to Indian media, monkeys have become an increasing nuisance to residents of Odisha. Last March, schools in Odisha’s Kendrapada district were closed due to frequent monkey attacks. Also that month, a government employee died from head injuries after a monkey jumped from a tree onto him.