Bhaktapur Metropolitan Police Range has sent the body of an infant, which was found on the banks of the Hanumante river in Suryabinayak-2, to TU Teaching Hospital for post-mortem. 

Police had found the body, wrapped in clothes, on the riverbank on Thursday. 

 “It seems the baby was abandoned about a week ago,” said SP Kiran Bajracharya. “We are speaking to all the hospitals in the district to gather information about child births in the recent days.”

A pair of scissors, which police suspect could have been used to cut the umbilical court, were also found near the body.  Police said the baby could have been abandoned after it was born of an illicit relationship, or born out of wedlock or rape.

“We have launched investigation in the Balkot area and temporary makeshift shelters,” said SP Bajracharya. 

According to police, 2,600 quake victims are living in makeshift tents in the district. There could have been extramarital relations or sexual violence, police suspect. 

“Family privacy and protection is rare in such places, and we have been getting complaints of sexual violence,” said SP Bajracharya. 

Different agencies, including the UN and Oxfam, have reported that women have been living in fear of abuse because of the lack of privacy and security afforded by temporary shelters where they have been forced to stay after the quake destroyed their houses.