Urge for a son makes woman kill her own 3-month-old daughter

GHAZIABAD: A woman killed her three-month-old daughter by strangling and then hid the dead infant in washing machine in Patla village under Modinagar area of Ghaziabad. Police said that she killed her because she 'wanted a son'.

According to police, the family stated that 22-year-old Aarti was upset over the birth of a female child and didn't even feed her for days after her birth. She began feeding the child after getting pressurized by the family members. She always wanted to have a baby boy. The family was happy over the birth of baby girl except Aarti. We have never thought that she will kill her own daughter.

Aarti got married to Mohit around one and a half year back. In August this year she gave birth to a baby girl, Shivani, but never accepted her. On Sunday, when the family members were out of home, she committed the heinous crime to kill her own daughter.

"When we came back home, we asked her about Shivani. Aarti told us that a wild animal has picked Shivani from home. We began our search to the nearby farms but didn't find her. On further questioning Aarti, she confessed that she killed her and hid her under the clothes in the washing machine," infant's father told police. Aarti's husband then informed police about the incident and registered a case against her.

"Preliminary investigations showed that the infant has been killed by her own mother. After collecting incriminating evidences, the woman was brought to the station for interrogation upon which she has confessed to commit the crime. We have registered a case against her and the body of the deceased child has been sent for the post mortem" said Arvind Kumar Maurya, Superintendent of Police (rural), Ghaziabad.

Ghaziabad district has seen a sudden decline in the sex ratio in past few years due to the recurring incidents of female infanticide not only in the rural areas but urban as well. As per the recent records provided by the district administration, there are just 13549 girls per 15476 boys in the district.