Dozens of mourners attend funeral of unknown baby girl found abandoned on footpath in Oxfordshire
Despite numerous attempts to trace the parent of the baby, no one has ever been found or come forward
THE funeral for an unknown baby girl found dead on a footpath in Oxfordshire took place today.
Dozens of mourners came to pay their respects to the tragic baby, whom police named Raihana.
The name was chosen to reflect her South East Asian ethnicity and means 'heaven's flower'.
Detective Inspector Jim Holmes said: “I chose the name. Having two children myself I know how hard it is to choose the name for your child and in these circumstances I think it is more important, this is the only memorial there is going to be.
“Dealing with any person’s death is a tragic event, but when you’re dealing with a child’s death it’s much more penitent, especially if you’re a father or a mother yourself.
“It is quite difficult to switch those paternal instincts off and the circumstances of this investigation are so tragic.
“You would have to be a very unique person not to get emotionally involved in the case.”
The body of the baby girl, who was stillborn, was found in February.
RELATED STORIES
Members of the public were encouraged to come, as police were aware the community in Marston and Oxford had been affected by the sad discovery.
Police had not been able to find the mother of the baby, despite numerous appeals and so decided to name her before the funeral.
DI Holmes added: “It’s clear to me comments I’ve seen from our previous appeals that there is a great amount of sympathy and caring feeling towards the mother as well as to Raihana.
“Unfortunately we have had no responses from anyone claiming to be Raihana’s mother or a member of her family, a friend or an associate at all.”
DI Holmes said it was "just as likely" for the mother to be in Oxford as for her to be on the other side of the world.
In a final appeal, he told her: “Our door is still open to you” and said she would not be in trouble if she came forward.
An inquest in August found that the baby – discovered by walkers on the path between University Parks and Marston on February 29 – was stillborn.
She was buried at Wolvercote Cemetery at 1pm today.
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 782 4368.