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SHANGHAI: A woman has been detained after allegedly throwing a two-month-old baby into a river and letting it drown.

The woman, in her 20s, was seen holding the child by the Huangpu River around 5 pm on Wednesday.

Witnesses said they saw the crying child in the river about 30 minutes later, while the woman was sitting on a bench by the water.

Police dragged the child's body from the water 20 minutes later after it was found 300 meters away. It has not been confirmed she was the child's mother.

An officer surnamed Zhuang with the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau said the woman is not speaking to investigators.

"No progress has been made yet," he said.

Witnesses said the baby was wearing a top with flower patterns and scarlet underpants and presumed it was a girl.

They alleged the woman must have thrown the child into the river because the riverbank is about 1.5 meters high and it is impossible to drop a baby into the water.

Around 6:30 pm a shirtless man arrived at the site and said he knew the woman. Police took him away for questioning.

Local residents said the two were a couple from Jiangxi province and some claimed the baby was handicapped.

The woman could be charged with murder if it is proved she threw the child into the river.

The waterside department of the Shanghai Municipal Public Security Bureau is investigating the case. The department didn't respond to calls.

Sang Biao, a therapist, said the woman could be suffering postpartum depression.

（英語點津 Helen 編輯）

Brendan joined The China Daily in 2007 as a language polisher in the Language Tips Department, where he writes a regular column for Chinese English Language learners, reads audio news for listeners and anchors the weekly video news in addition to assisting with on location stories. Elsewhere he writes Op’Ed pieces with a China focus that feature in the Daily’s Website opinion section.

He received his B.A. and Post Grad Dip from Curtin University in 1997 and his Masters in Community Development and Management from Charles Darwin University in 2003. He has taught in Japan, England, Australia and most recently China. His articles have featured in the Bangkok Post, The Taipei Times, The Asia News Network and in-flight magazines.