Kochi: The body of a newborn girl found in a dump yard near Perumbavoor will no longer be treated as a murder case, as police have decided to alter the charges following the results of an autopsy. The initial murder case, filed after the newborn’s body was found at a waste-dumping yard on Monday, will now be changed to concealment of birth by secret disposal.

According to a senior officer with the Perumbavoor police, the post-mortem confirmed that the infant never took a single breath after delivery, meaning the baby could not have been murdered. However, authorities plan to apply charges under Section 94 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for concealment of birth by secretly disposing of a body.

The parents, both from Murshidabad in West Bengal, had a home birth on Monday morning. At some point, the newborn’s remains were buried in a waste disposal site in Kanjirakkad. The incident came to light around 4 pm when residents noticed a stray dog digging at the site, leading to the discovery of the body. The father, who has lived in the area for years, was questioned by police led by Perumbavoor ASP, who initially invoked murder charges based on preliminary information.

Police sources said the mother has been admitted to a hospital and that the arrests of both parents have not yet been recorded. The charges will be formally altered in the coming days, and the arrests will be made once the mother has recovered.