The Belagavi police held a 19-year-old man for abandoning a newborn that he allegedly fathered with a minor, in Nersa Gouliwada village on Friday.
Mallu Appu Pingale, 19, was arrested from his house. He has been charged under provisions of the POCSO Act.
The police said he had seduced a 16-year-old girl with the promise of marrying her. But when the girl delivered a baby, he backed off. The infant was kept in a plastic bag that was hung from a tree in the village. ASHA worker Satyavati Desai who heard its cries, shifted it to the taluk hospital with the help of the police. The newborn was shifted to the district hospital after some medical examinations. The newborn is out of danger, the police said.
