A foetus, believed to be around six months old, was recovered from a lavatory of an AirAsia plane after it landed in Delhi from Guwahati on Wednesday, 25 July, the police said.
An FIR has been registered under section 318 of the Indian Penal Code (concealment of birth by secret disposal of dead body) on Thursday, 26 July, reported ANI.
When an alarm was raised by the cabin crew about the discovery, a 19-year-old taekwondo player admitted that she lost the foetus, they said.
The woman was supposed to travel to South Korea on Thursday for a tournament and was accompanied by her coach. The cabin crew was conducting a routine check of the lavatories when they found the foetus wrapped in toilet paper.
The flight number I5 784 had originated from Imphal. The plane landed at the T-3 terminal of Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi at 3.30 pm.
According to the police, the woman who boarded the plane in Guwahati delivered "a pre-mature dead foetus". The police have sent the foetus for post-mortem and the woman has been sent for a medical examination.
Her coach told the police he was neither aware of her pregnancy nor had she revealed about it in the documents she had filled for travelling in the flight.
It is suspected that the foetus was five-six months old, though an autopsy would help confirm the exact gestational age, the police said.
Matter Reported to DGCA
Air Asia said the woman was identified on questioning of all female passengers onboard.
Earlier, the airline had said in a statement, "A newborn infant was found lifeless and abandoned in one of the lavatories when the aircraft was being prepared for landing. Delhi Police were alerted and a doctor from the medical team at Delhi International Airport confirmed that the baby had been delivered onboard."
The matter has been reported to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA), the airline said.
"We will be assisting in the investigation and cooperating with all concerned agencies. AirAsia India would like to apologise to all guests experiencing disruptions in their flight schedule," it added.
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