The Tema police have mounted a manhunt for the mother of a newborn baby boy who was dumped in a pit of a Tema public toilet yesterday.

Two male residents of Tema Community 1, Site 1, who had reportedly gone to the public toilet to ease themselves, were alerted by some women who said they heard the cry of the baby emanating from the pit.

The men, according to Superintendent Gabriel Amankwah Dokyi, Commander of the Community 1 District Police, retrieved the baby whose body was partly covered with faeces from the pit and sent him to the Tema General Hospital for treatment.

Superintendent Dokyi told DAILY GUIDE in his office that a certain Abdallah Sulemana and Christian Keledorme, residents of Site 1, Tema, reported to his station that they had retrieved a newborn baby boy from a pit of the area’s public toilet.

The two, according to the District Commander, reportedly sent the baby to the Tema General Hospital after bathing him.

Supt. Dokyi noted that information he gathered indicated that the mother might have arrived at the public toilet around 4:00 am after which she dumped him, together with the placenta, in a pit, and fled to avoid being noticed.

Some women who were at the facility to attend nature’s call heard the cry of a baby from the pit. One of them was said to have used a torch light to locate the baby who was found lying on faeces in the pit.

She and the other women quickly raised the alarm which attracted Abdallah and Keledorme to the scene.

Supt. Dokyi added that on hearing about the incident, he quickly dispatched two of his men, Detective Sergeant Samuel Appiah and Detective Lance Corporal, to follow up at the hospital to ascertain the truth of the matter.

He stated that the two, on their return, confirmed the incident, adding that the baby was being monitored by medics at the health facility, as his condition improved.

He stated that his outfit had launched investigations into the incident, adding that the police were zeroing in on the mother who was believed to have gone into hiding shortly after dumping the baby.

Some officials of the Tema Metropolis branch of Social Welfare, at the time of going to press, were said to have visited the baby at the hospital.