Stray Dog Spotted On Road With Baby's Severed Head In Mouth

A stray dog in India was seen running in the streets of Madurai’s Bibikulam area on Sept. 8, holding a severed head of a baby in its mouth, authorities said.

A local resident, identified as Ayyanar, noticed the dog in the street carrying the baby’s head and alerted the local police station.

The Tallakulam police said was quick to respond to the situation. They initiated a search and located the dog opposite the Income Tax office near Indian Bank in the town.

Investigators said they had recovered the head and have sent it to the forensic lab at the Rajaji Government Hospital for autopsy. A search operation was initiated to locate the rest of the body of the baby.

According to local media reports, the baby’s head was covered in dirt. Hence raising suspicion that the dog must have found the head from some drainage or garbage dump.

"We have begun the investigation. We are carrying out forensic procedures to identify the gender of the baby. We are gathering the list of women who were pregnant in the area and also those who had visited the town in recent times. Lists of women who gave birth in the government hospitals are also been gathered," the Indian Express quoted a police official as saying.

"If it is a case of a couple disposing of the baby because it was born out of wedlock, the delivery might have been illegal and so tracing the couple may also be difficult," the police officer said.

The cops are also probing to identify the dog and its whereabouts.

"We have to check from which area the dog came. We also don’t know whether it took the baby from somewhere. It’s a long procedure. We are analyzing CCTV visuals available in the nearby areas to know where the dog found the baby," the official further added.

"We have taken soil sediment samples from the head and are trying to trace similar soil lands in the locality. There is a high chance that the head of the child was severed after death, and less chance of the dog attacking the baby," the officer said.

The officer said two special teams have been formed to investigate the incident.