A 20-day-old baby girl who was found buried alive in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh is fighting for survival, hospital authorities say.

She was found by chance when a shepherd, who had taken his goats to the area for grazing, heard faint cries coming from under a mound of earth.

Once he went closer, he saw a tiny hand sticking out of the mud. After he alerted the villagers, police were called in who came and dug out the baby.

Police have not said who they suspect for the crime, but similar cases of abandonment and attempts to kill female children are blamed on India's preference for sons, which is widely acknowledged to be the reason for its skewed gender ratio.

The incident took place in Shahjahanpur district in India's most populous state. The baby is being treated in the neonatal intensive care unit of the government-run medical college and hospital there.

Medical college principal Dr Rajesh Kumar told the BBC that the infant was brought in on Monday, smeared in dirt and gasping for air as mud had gone into her mouth and nostrils.

"She was in a critical condition, she was showing signs of hypoxia or oxygen deficiency. She had been bitten by insects and also some animal," Dr Kumar said.

"After 24 hours we saw a minor improvement in her condition, but she has since deteriorated. She has developed an infection," he added.

Dr Kumar said he believed the baby had been found soon after she was buried as her "wounds were fresh".

A team of doctors, including a plastic surgeon, were treating the baby and they were trying to control her infection, he said.

"The prognosis is grave, but we are trying our best to save her," he added.

A police official said their attempts to track down the baby's parents had not been successful yet. The child helpline in the state had been informed about the baby, the official added.

The incident in Shahjahanpur is not the first time a female baby has been left to die in India. In 2019, the BBC reported on a premature newborn baby who was found buried alive in a clay pot. After weeks in the hospital, doctors said she had recovered.

India is known to have one of the worst gender ratios in the world. Women face lifelong social discrimination and girls are seen as a financial burden, particularly among poor communities.

Campaigners say a traditional preference for sons has meant millions of female children are lost to foeticide and infanticide over the years.

Although most unwanted female foetuses are aborted with help from illegal sex determination clinics, cases of baby girls being killed after birth are not uncommon either.