Kerala woman, 22, delivers child inside hostel washroom, both safe

Days after a suspected victim of sexual assault tossed her newborn infant onto a street in Kochi, killing the infant, another woman was found to have given birth in the bathroom of a city hostel, police said on Sunday.

The 22-year-old woman from Kollam, who works in a company in Kochi, delivered the child inside the bathroom of a private hostel on Sunday morning, and the matter came to light after her hostel mates forcefully opened the door as she was locked inside for a long time, the police said.

"We were informed by the hostel authorities. We immediately shifted her and the child to a nearby hospital. They both are safe now," they added.

Police said that her family had been informed, and a close friend of hers had also reached the hospital.

The hostel mates were unaware of the pregnancy.

In a similar incident that had shocked Kochi on May 3, a 23-year-old woman who had concealed her pregnancy, delivered a baby in the early hours of Friday in her apartment bathroom, and allegedly threw the newborn on the street in front of her flat complex located in a posh residential area.

The baby was found dead by conservancy workers and the police arrested the woman who delivered the child.