The Delhi Police on Friday arrested a 27-year-old woman for allegedly killing her seven-month-old daughter earlier this month.
Police said the woman blamed her daughter’s birth for the family’s medical and financial problems.
She allegedly strangled the infant on August 20 and put her body in a bucket to make it look as if the baby had drowned, police said.
The woman has been identified as Adiba, who lived in Kot Mohalla Basti in Hazrat Nizamuddin with her husband Israr Khan, a tailor.
According to the police, on August 20, around 5.30 pm, Moolchand Hospital informed Hazrat Nizamuddin police station that a seven-month-old child was brought dead to the hospital by her parents.
Deputy commissioner of police (southeast) Chinmoy Biswal said a police team rushed to the hospital.
“The parents told us that she had drowned in a bucket of water in the bathroom. On a closer observation, police found injury marks on her neck. The body was then sent to the AIIMS for a post-mortem examination,” the DCP said.
A week later, on August 27, the autopsy report came out and it stated “pressure over the neck” as the reason for the child’s death.
“A case of murder was then registered on Monday and the scene of crime, the couple’s bathroom, was inspected. During the probe, the child’s father was questioned. He revealed that on the day of incident, around 4pm, his wife came rushing to his tailoring shop and informed him that the child had drowned in a bucket of water. He said the baby was unconscious when they took her to the hospital,” Biswal said.
Police said the autopsy mentioned no water in the child’s internal organs and so the woman was called for questioning.
“When the police team contradicted her with facts, she admitted to having killed her daughter. She told police that since her daughter’s birth, the entire family was facing medical and financial problems. She considered the child’s death the only solution to their misfortunes,” the officer said.
Biswal said, the mother accepted that she strangled the child with a dupatta and then submerged her in a bucket of water to make it look like a drowning.
