India: Vexed with wife for giving birth to girl child, man murders 6-day-old daughter in Haryana

A man allegedly murdered a 6-day-old baby as he was upset with the birth of a girl child. The incident took place in Yamunanagar district of the Indian state of Haryana on Monday.

The accused man was identified as Neeraj, and he was an alcoholic, reportedly.

According to the official statements, Neeraj got married to his wife, Varsha in 2015, and the accused was upset with his wife as she had not given birth to a child even after five years of marriage.

On September 24, 2020, the woman gave birth to a baby girl. On Monday, the accused returned home in an inebriated state and lay down next to the newborn baby. The accused allegedly put his leg on the girl and intentionally suffocated her.

The child died immediately, and Varsha approached the police and lodged a complaint against her husband. Neeraj was booked under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on Tuesday and was sent to judicial custody.

Officials said that as per preliminary probe, the man put weight on the baby and murdered her. The body of the deceased was handed over to the family after the post-mortem was conducted.

Haryana has been actively involved in fighting female infanticide. Reports say that the illegal sex determination test also occurs in Punjab and Haryana and the rate is anywhere between Rs15,000(Dh753) to Rs25,000 (Dh1255).

At least 50 per cent of this goes to the tout, who get patients through midwives.

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) report says about 7,000 fewer girls are born in the country every day than the global average would suggest, largely because female foetuses are aborted after sex determination tests and also due to the murder of newborns.