Newborn still on ice

A relative said that to date, no birth certificate has been issued and this document is needed in order to get a death certificate which is also needed before a body can be lawfully disposed.

The relative said that the protracted wait for burial has been traumatic for the baby’s parents Cindy Gail Sooknanan, 22, and Kimraj Jorai.

“The mother wants to bury her baby but the body has to remain at the funeral home until procedures are completed. It is taking too long I find. A decision has to be made by the authorities because you can’t just leave the body at the funeral home forever,” the relative said.

Sooknanan who is unemployed, lives with her father Rajesh Sooknanan, 42, and twoyear- old daughter at Sewlal Trace in Fyzabad. On July 1, Sooknanan gave birth inside a car which was parked in the driveway of her relatives’ home at Chatoor Avenue, Fyzabad. She was seven months pregnant.

After the birth, it was assumed that the baby was taken to the Siparia health centre but the family later learnt that the baby was given to a doctor who they assumed had taken the child to hospital. On July 11, police acting on information, executed a search warrant at the doctor’s office and found the baby’s corpse in a fridge.

An autopsy confirmed death was due to complications arising out of a premature birth and lack of immediate medical care. The doctor, was detained, has since been released without charge.