Jalaun (UP) | The body of an infant, allegedly partially eaten by dogs, was found dumped with garbage at the district women's hospital in Lalitpur, officials said on Wednesday.

Medical superintendent Meenakshi Devi said Sangeeta, a resident of Bahadurpur village in the Madawara block, had been admitted to the hospital with labour pain on February 9.

"She gave birth to a premature baby at 6:50 pm that day. Due to an underdeveloped brain and skull, the infant was shifted to the Special Newborn Care Unit. The baby died at 7:30 pm on the same day," she said.

"The hospital then handed over the body to the family," she added.

On Tuesday, the hospital received information about an infant's body being found in the garbage. The identification band on the body confirmed that it was Sangeeta's baby. The body was moved to the mortuary and sent for a post-mortem, the medical superintendent said.

Sangeeta's husband Akhilesh claimed that a hospital nurse instructed them to hand over the body to an individual who would cremate the infant for Rs 200.

"It appears that the body was discarded instead of being cremated," Akhilesh said.