close up of airplane toilet

In a super-disturbing story out of India, a mother on a flight tried to flush her newborn baby down the plane's toilet. And the story gets even worse.

The 22-year-old woman was an unmarried medical student who just completed studies abroad and was returning home. I understand the pressures and discrimination that many Indian women face in their country, but I still would so not want that woman to be my doctor. I don't know if I even want her walking among the human race anymore.

It's not clear whether the woman delivered the baby in the bathroom or if she had taken the child on board with her. It's also not clear whether she thinks she succeeded or not, because when the flight landed, she walked off the plane without looking back.

Emergency officials did not attempt to extract the baby from the toilet; they removed the entire appliance from the airplane and transported it along with the child to the hospital. The baby remains in critical condition and the mother has been arrested.

This story is especially chilling to me, having just flown about a week ago and the powerful flushing mechanism of airplane toilets being fresh in my mind. What a tragic start to life. I have to stop myself from imagining the effects of that powerful suction on a fragile, precious newborn head, else I won't be able to sleep tonight. Come to think of it, there's no chance of that now anyway.