IAF sergeant buries 13-day-old daughter

KALAIKUNDA: A complaint was filed against an Air Force sergeant after he allegedly buried his 13-day-old daughter on Monday. According to protocol, no dead person can be buried until a death certificate is issued by a doctor, said police.Police sources said that V Shekhawat's daughter died at their Kalaikunda air base quarters early on Monday. The bay was born on January 29.Later in the day, the sergeant allegedly took the body to Ghaghra crematorium at Talbagicha and buried her there, without bothering to get a death certificate issued. When word spread among neighbours, Shekhawat's colleague and air base station's security officer Piyush Agarwal lodged a complaint at Kharagpur Local police station on Monday night.Following the complaint, the sub-divisional officer of Kharagpur directed the BDO of Kharagpur I block to exhume the baby's body. Accordingly, the body was exhumed in the presence BDO Suhash Bera, who is also the executive magistrate. Bera was accompanied by the circle inspector (CI) Kharagpur, Arindam Das.Das said that the body was sent for autopsy and they were awaiting the reports: "A probe will begin if the post-mortem finds the girl child had died an unnatural death." Asked how the crematorium authorities allowed a burial without a death certificate, police explained that a death certificate is not issued if a child has not been named.A complaint has been lodged against an Air Force sergeant posted at the Kalaikunda air base for allegedly burying his 13 day old girl child. The girl child who was born on January 29, died at sergeant V. Shekhawat's quarters in the air base on Monday morning. Later in the day, Shekhawat took his daughter's body to the Ghaghra crematorium at nearby Talbagicha and buried her there. The sergeant's colleagues soon learnt that Shekhawat had buried his daughter.Late on Monday night, the air base's station security officer Pijush Agarwal lodged a complaint against Shekhawat at Kharagpur Local police station. Police said the child had been buried without a doctor issuing a death certificate.On Tuesday morning, the sub divisional officer Kharagpur directed the block development officer (BDO) of Kharagpur I block to exhume the girl child's body. Suhash bera, the BDO, went to the Ghaghra crematorium at Talbagicha in his capacity as executive magistrate. A body can only be exhumed in the presence of an executive magistrate. Bera was accompanied by the circle inspector (CI) Kharagpur Arindam Das. The girl child's body was exhumed and sent to the Midnapore Medical College (MMC) Hospital for postmortem.Das said they are waiting for the postmortem report. "A probe will begin if the postmortem finds the girl child died an unnatural death," said Das. Asked how the crematorium authorities allowed a burial without a death certificate, police explained that a death certificate is not issued if a child has not been named.