Man Kills 3-Month-Old Daughter During Argument With Wife

A man was arrested after he killed his three-and-a-half-month-old daughter in the presence of his wife in Kolkata, the capital city of India’s West Bengal, on Thursday.

Police said the accused, identified as 25-year-old Seikh Raju, was upset ever since his wife gave birth to the child and he often fought with her. On Wednesday night, Raju reached home drunk and started arguing with his wife. During the argument, the accused approached his daughter after noticing her playing on the bed. He killed the baby by throwing her to the ground repeatedly before twisting her arms and disfiguring her face.

“We found that he had willfully murdered his minor daughter Sultani Khatoon. His wife put up resistance, but was beaten up,” an investigating officer said. The baby was rushed to a nearby hospital where she was declared brought dead.

Raju was arrested following a complaint filed by his wife.

“Arrangements are being made for holding inquest and post-mortem examination to ascertain the actual cause of death,” an officer said, adding that they would record the wife’s statement.

Local reports suggest that the accused had also left his first wife following the birth of the first child.

“We are awaiting the postmortem report. We are also contacting the first wife to ascertain if he had behaved violently with his first child,” an investigating officer said.

In a similar incident in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu in January, a man was arrested after he killed his four-month-daughter by throwing her to the ground. Mathiazhagan, 30, reached home drunk and started arguing with his wife after she refused to give him money to buy alcohol. In a fit of rage, he lifted his daughter and threw her on the floor. Mathiazhagan’s wife tried to stop the baby from crying by breastfeeding her. She rushed the infant to the hospital when she noticed the girl was struggling to breathe. However, the baby was declared brought dead.