The body of the 16-day-old child, who on Saturday morning was believed to have been carried away by a monkey from a house in Talabasta village of Banki, was found in a well located just a few meters from the house on Sunday morning.
Police and Forest Department staffs had failed to trace the missing baby in a daylong search operation on Saturday.
Family members first spotted the baby’s body floating in the 15-feet-deep well. With the help of villagers, the body was retrieved. Eyewitnesses said the body was believed to be inside the water for over 24 hours, but it had not bloated. There was also an injury mark on it.
After inquest, police sent the body to the Banki hospital for postmortem. “We are waiting for the autopsy report to ascertain the cause of the death of the baby, which had a premature birth under Cesarean section,” said police Investigating Officer Priyabrat Rout, adding that an unnatural death (UD) case has been registered in this connection.
Meanwhile, alleging negligence on the part of Forest Department staffs for not carrying out the search operations for the baby in a proper manner, the villagers led by the deceased’s father Ramakrushna Nayak staged a dharna in front of the Damapada Forest Range office seeking compensation.
The villagers pointed out that monkey menace in and around Talabasta village is unbearable now causing loss of life and property. “Banki, once considered to be the kitchen garden of the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar supplying fresh green vegetables, is now suffering due to the monkey menace,” alleged the villagers.