Sonam Pem Tshoki

At around 10:30am yesterday,  a 20-week-old foetus was found in Changbangdu, Thimphu, on the way to Buddha Point.

Raju Nepal, 29, who first spotted the foetus called his friend Rubbart who then informed the police.

“It was a pretty disturbing sight,” Rubbart said. “A limb was missing. It could have been eaten by a dog.”

The chief of forensic medicine and toxicology, Dr Norbu, said that the foetus was about 20 weeks old and weighed 400 grams.

He said: “Delivery could have happened at the hospital as the umbilical cord was clamped which is only done in a hospital.”

The hospital called a family that had recently delivered a pre-term baby but found that the family had taken their baby to Genekha.

The forensic medicine and toxicology team of JDWNRH said it could have been a case of stillbirth. The exact cause and time of death could not be determined, as the foetus had decomposed by the time it was brought into the lab.

Officer-in-Charge of Thimphu police said that the investigation is underway.

Dr Chencho Dorji said that this was not an isolated case.