Man Kills 7-Month-Old Daughter Following Quarrel With Wife Over Girl's Birth

Unhappy with the birth of a girl child, a man killed his seven-month-old daughter in the Indian state of West Bengal on Monday.

According to local reports, Naima Bibi was living at her parents’ home after delivery. She was to return to her husband’s home Tuesday morning, however, her husband, identified as Al Mamum Sheikh, arrived a day before to take them home. Upon reaching home, the accused, who was seeing the baby for the first time, asked his wife if he could take the baby out for a while. A few minutes later, she was informed by the neighbors that they heard a baby’s cries.

Recalling the incident, Bibi said, “On seeing our daughter for the first time, my husband said he wanted to take her out for a while. I later heard from neighbors that they heard a baby’s shrill cry from a pond about 150 meters (0.09 miles) from our house and rushed there.”

The accused started running after seeing the neighbors, however, they managed to catch him. Bibi filed a police complaint following which the man was taken into custody and charged with murder.

“My husband used to visit me at my parents’ home during my pregnancy. But on hearing we had a girl child, he never came to see our first baby, leave alone meet me. During the last seven months, I did sense my husband was unhappy that we had had a girl child. But I never thought he would kill her,” Bibi said.

Meanwhile, while being taken to the court, the accused reportedly said, “I had quarreled with my wife after we had a daughter.” Sheikh remained in custody and the investigation was ongoing.