A flock of wild monkeys broke into a home in India and snatched newborn twins – killing one of the 8-day-old girls, according to reports.
The mother – identified as R. Buvaneswari, 26 – told police that the monkeys broke into her home in the city of Thanjavur on Saturday, shingling tiles, The Times of India reported.
Buvaneswari said she was alone at home with the twins and their 5-year-old daughter, while her husband, Raja, 29, a wall painter, went to work, according to the report.
She claimed that the marauding apes stole her babies while she was in the outdoor bathroom.
The mother said she ran back to the house when she heard the animals’ screams and was shocked to find that the babies were missing. She ran back outside when she heard one of her babies crying and saw one of the monkeys holding the child.
Neighbors chased the monkey and rescued the girl, but the other child was found floating dead in a ditch, The Times of India reported.
“As soon as we got the information about the incident, we ran to the scene and looked for the second baby. We finally located the child in the pit, ”police inspector S. Chandramohan told the news agency.
“We sent the body to the government’s Medical College Hospital for an autopsy,” he added.
However, M. Ilayaraja, the district forestry officer, described the incident as “the rarest of rare” and said the mother’s report is under investigation.
“It is very difficult for the animal to remove the tiles to enter and exit through the same hole,” said the official.
“Furthermore, according to the doctor’s testimony, the baby under observation, as well as the baby who died, did not show any marks of having been grabbed by the animal on the body,” continued Ilayaraja.
“Because they are children, when animals like monkeys lift them up, their joints can move. There is no hematoma, scratch or dislocation of the joints. However, we cannot reach any conclusions. ”
But this is not the first time there have been reports of monkeys attacking babies in India.
Two years ago, a monkey abducted a 16-day-old child in the village of Talabasta. The child was later found dead at the bottom of a well, the UK Sun reported.