Old customs behind dumping of 21 dead babies in Chinese river: Expert

BEIJING - The reason behind the dumping of 21 foetuses and dead babies in a river in East China’s Shandong province is a local custom, it has emerged.

Local residents on Monday found 21 foetuses and baby bodies dumped under a bridge across the Guangfu River on the outskirts of Jining.

Eight of the 21 bodies had tabs with clinic code numbers attached to their feet, and the tabs showed the bodies were from the Affiliated Hospital of Jining Medical University.

Two senior officials and two mortuary workers have been sacked in the wake of the incident.

But experts point out that in some parts of China, parents don’t take babies’ bodies home for a funeral.

The China Daily quoted Ma Guanghai, deputy dean of Shandong University’s school of philosophy and social development, as saying that they either dump the body in a corner of the hospital or pay someone to bury the baby.

He added that the outdated practice is related to the high death rate of babies in the past.

“A modern society that respects life cannot allow this type of abandonment,” Ma said.

Currently, there is no legal definition for proper burial of dead infants or foetuses in China, and experts have called for introduction of such regulations.

“There should be regulations for dealing with infants’ bodies and dead foetuses that comply with both the law and folk customs. Otherwise, there will always be loopholes for hospital management,” he said. (ANI)