Abandoned baby girl rescued by stray dogs in eastern India

Stray dogs rescued a baby girl abandoned under a mound of mud and leaves in eastern Indian, a government official said Tuesday.

The newborn was discovered when a pack of dogs began barking and alerted villagers to her whereabouts in Narhan, in Bihar state on Sunday, the area's district magistrate Asangba Chuba Ao told The Associated Press.

She was hidden under mud and dry leaves in a fruit orchard in the village, he said.

The child was being looked after by a local farmer and his wife. Local officials had no information about the infant's birth parents yet, he said.

A strong cultural preference for boys in India means women face a great deal of pressure to produce male children. Sex-selective abortions and the abandonment of female infants are common.

According to UNICEF, about 7,000 fewer girls than expected are born every day in India. According to the British medical journal The Lancet, up to 500,000 female fetuses are aborted every year.

Abortion is legal in India but sex-determination tests were outlawed in 1991 — a law nearly impossible to enforce.