Story By: Ana Lacasa, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Central European News

Video Credit:CEN

This is the moment a police officer rescues a newborn baby boy who was abandoned by the roadside.

The incident took place in the municipality of Toledo in the north-western Colombian department of Antioquia after local residents found the infant and called the police.

Police spokesman Giovanny Buitrago said the baby was born around 24 hours before being found, and his umbilical cord appeared to have been severed by the mother with a sharp instrument.

The footage shows the baby being wrapped in a blanket and carried away by a police officer before arriving at hospital for checks.

Hours after the discovery, a 24-year-old unnamed woman was arrested.

Buitrago said: “The suspect admitted that she gave birth the night before, breastfed the infant and then cut the umbilical cord before leaving him by the roadside.”

The suspect, who has three other children, claimed that the father refuses to help her financially therefore she had no choice but to abandon the new family member, according to local media.

The baby is receiving medical care in the municipality of Yarumal while his suspected mother is being kept in police custody.

Meanwhile, the woman’s other children are being cared for by social services as the investigation continues.

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