Incredible moment a newborn baby girl is found ALIVE floating in a wooden box in the Ganges

Incredible moment a newborn baby girl is found ALIVE floating in a wooden box decorated with images of Hindu gods in the Ganges river in India

  • 21-day-old infant was heard crying by a boatman who found her inside the box 
  • Baby girl was swaddled in a red scarf and surrounded by images of Hindu gods
  • A note inside the wooden box named her as Ganga, Hindi for the river Ganges
  • She is being monitored in hospital before being given into social care


A newborn baby girl has been found alive floating in a wooden box in the River Ganges in India.

The 21-day-old infant was heard crying by a boatman who discovered her wrapped in a red scarf inside the box decorated with images of the Hindu gods Vishnu and Durga.

Footage shows the moment a crowd stirred around Gullu Chaudhary as he opened the box before taking the child in his arms on the banks of the river in the city of Ghazipur, in the northern Uttar Pradesh state, on June 14.

Footage shows the moment a crowd stirred around Gullu Chaudhary as he opened the box before taking the child in his arms on the banks of the river in the city of Ghazipur, in the northern Uttar Pradesh state, on June 14

The 21-day-old infant was found her wrapped in a red scarf inside the box decorated with images of the Hindu gods Vishnu and Durga

The 21-day-old infant was found her wrapped in a red scarf inside the box decorated with images of the Hindu gods Vishnu and Durga

The boatman Chaudhary rescues the baby from the river surrounded by locals

The boatman Chaudhary rescues the baby from the river surrounded by locals

The boatman took the baby in his arms before she was rushed to the local hospital

People crowd around the infant

The boatman took the baby in his arms before she was rushed to the local hospital

The baby inside the box swaddled in a red blanket

The baby inside the box swaddled in a red blanket

The child was rushed to hospital but deemed to be healthy. After she is discharged she will be taken into social care.  

Investigators have not provided a possible motive but female infanticide rates in India are among the highest in the world.

Girls are seen as a financial burden, especially for poorer families where opportunities for work and education are limited.

The advancement of ultrasound technology means that many are aborted before they are born but abandonment after birth is not uncommon.

Police said the box contained a horoscope card which contained the baby’s date of birth and named her as Ganga, Hindi for river Ganges.

Local officials said they would cover the costs of looking after the girl. 

The little girl's box contained a note which said her name was Ganga, Hindi for the river Ganges

The little girl’s box contained a note which said her name was Ganga, Hindi for the river Ganges

Ghazipur is a city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh on the bank of the Ganges

Ghazipur is a city in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh on the bank of the Ganges

The boatman Chaudhary was also going to be rewarded with a house and other state benefits, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath told local media for his ‘matchless example of humanity’ in saving the girl.

Chaudhary told local media that when people on the river banks heard the cries nobody did anything.

‘But I rushed to rescue her. When I opened the wooden box, I found her,’ the boatman said.