This is such a tragedy! A newborn baby who was sleeping in his home was recently snatched by a stray monkey and taken away right in front of his mother’s eyes.
The incident, which happened in eastern India, was witnessed by the 16-days-old baby’s mother as she helplessly watched the wild animal invade her home in a village in Banki, Orissa. She said that the monkey’s movements were too fast and by the time she raised an alarm, the monkey had leapt out of sight with her precious baby, SCMP reported.
About a day later on Sunday (April 2), after searching emotionally for the whole time, they finally found the baby. Unfortunately, the police discovered that the baby was dead in a well behind the home. That’s so sad! They suspected that the monkey may have had dropped the baby when he was jumping over the roof to escape.
The baby’s father, Rama Krushna Nayak said, “It seems while the monkey was jumping from the terrace my baby somehow slipped from its clutches and fell in the well.” Although monkeys around the area are known for stealing food or sometimes even attacking humans, running away with a baby has never been heard of so far.
An autopsy showed that the newborn had died from asphyxia because of drowning. There were also no injuries on the baby and the family is convinced that the monkey had killed the child. A woman who went to the well to draw some water had found the baby’s body and alerted the worried family members. They proceeded to pull the baby up from the ground.
The police identified the monkey as a rhesus macaque, or Macaca mulatta, a species with reddish-pink faces and rear ends that weigh about 12kg. They often live near humans and are considered sacred in India by Hindus. People generally leave them alone even though there have been numerous monkey attacks.
Activists say that the invasion of the animal’s natural habitats by urban population is the cause of the problem. Authorities are currently still searching for the monkey suspected of the newborn’s death.
Our deepest condolences to the family and RIP, little one.
Also read: Newborn Baby Bleeds to Death After Stubborn Grandma Insists on Feeding Him Solid Food