In an attempt to get rid of his newborn daughter because he wanted a son, a Chinese man has landed in police net for stealing her from a hospital and doing the unthinkable.

Image shows the location where Li Mou flung his newborn child (Source: Asia One)

The accused person stole his newborn daughter from the hospital and threw her over a cliff.

In the tragic incident which unfolded in Magui, a town in Guangdong province, on the morning of Oct 26, a local hospital reported a newborn baby missing just hours after she was born. Prompt police investigations pointed towards the baby’s father, Li Mou, who they described as “behaving suspiciously.”

After interrogation, he admitted to stuffing the newborn in a snakeskin duffel bag at around 1 am before her out of the hospital. He then proceeded to throw the bag off a cliff in a remote part of the township.

A search party guided by the police and Li scoured the wilderness for the newborn at 11 am but were unable to locate the bag or the baby. Other locals joined the search as the story spread through the town and prompted formation of a volunteer rescue team.

Due to the geological formation of the cliff, the operation was tedious and required rescuers to rappel down the cliff in order to locate the bag. The members also had to cut through tall grass and vegetation to make the operation easier.

Just as the team was close to giving up at 1 pm, the search party heard an infant’s faint cry in the area and spotted the red snakeskin bag. The newborn was found with a blanket wrapped around her and the snakeskin bag protecting her from the chill. She had miraculously survived, having landed in dense vegetation.

Li has since explained that he threw his baby off the cliff as he favoured a son over a daughter. Since he already had two daughters and a son, he wanted to “get rid” of the newborn so he could try again for a son.

The baby has been returned safely to her mother after a checkup at the hospital, and Li is currently in police custody.