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Woman detained for tossing baby into river

By Cao Li (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-07-10 08:29

SHANGHAI: A woman has been detained after allegedly throwing a two-month-old baby into a river and letting it drown.

The woman, in her 20s, was seen holding the child by the Huangpu River around 5 pm on Wednesday.

Witnesses said they saw the crying child in the river about 30 minutes later, while the woman was sitting on a bench by the water.

Police dragged the child's body from the water 20 minutes later after it was found 300 meters away. It has not been confirmed she was the child's mother.

An officer surnamed Zhuang with the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau said the woman is not speaking to investigators.

"No progress has been made yet," he said.

Witnesses said the baby was wearing a top with flower patterns and scarlet underpants and presumed it was a girl.

They alleged the woman must have thrown the child into the river because the riverbank is about 1.5 meters high and it is impossible to drop a baby into the water.

Around 6:30 pm a shirtless man arrived at the site and said he knew the woman. Police took him away for questioning.

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Local residents said the two were a couple from Jiangxi province and some claimed the baby was handicapped.

The woman could be charged with murder if it is proved she threw the child into the river.

The waterside department of the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau is investigating the case. The department didn't respond to calls.

Sang Biao, a therapist, said the woman could be suffering postpartum depression.