Mumbai:
In a shocking incident, lifeguards stationed at Juhu Chowpatty, caught a man who was trying to dispose off his dead baby's body in the sea.
According to the lifeguards, they were engaged in a regular patrol of the area in the evening to check people's movements because of the MV RAK oil spill when they saw three people entering the sea carrying a plastic bag.
"Around 6 pm, we saw three people entering the sea behind Tulip Star Hotel. When we shouted out and asked them to stop, two of them made a run for it.
The third, however, ventured further into the sea and threw the plastic bag.
We caught him, recovered the bag and were shocked to see a dead baby's body in it," said D Bunty Rao, one of the lifeguards who intercepted the man.
The man, who is identified as Akhilesh Upadhyay, was taken to the Santa Cruz police station, where he claimed to be the baby's father.
He said his wife had delivered it as a stillborn at their Andheri residence. The body has been sent to Cooper Hospital for an autopsy.
"The man told us that since the baby had died, he had come to dispose of its body in the sea as part of the last rites," added Rao.
A senior police official from the Santa Cruz police said they have arrested Upadhyay and are investigating the matter.