Man Kills Toddler By Slitting Throat To Settle Scores With Child's Father

A man has killed a toddler to take revenge on the child’s father who was allegedly responsible for breaking up his marriage.

The accused, identified as Balu Maregama, had a dispute with a person named Santosh Murkhe, as a result of which, his wife left him. The furious man arrived at Murkhe’s home in Ralegaon, a town in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, on Wednesday evening to settle the score.

Maregama, who arrived at Murkhe’s home carrying a sharp cutter, realized the latter and his wife had gone out for work and only their toddler daughter, who was close to three years old, was present at home.

A fuming Maregama walked toward the toddler, who was playing in the front yard of the home, and slit her throat with the weapon. He then fled the scene, local daily The Hitavada reported.

When the parents returned home, they found the girl lying in a pool of blood in the yard. They immediately rushed the toddler to a local hospital, where she succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment.

A police case was filed, and following a manhunt, the accused was taken into custody Thursday. He has been charged under the relevant sections of the law.

An investigation into the incident was ongoing and details regarding the dispute between the two men were not known.

The incident comes months after a man killed an eight-year-old boy to settle scores with the victim’s family in India’s northern state of Uttar Pradesh. The 24-year-old accused had expressed his desire to marry the victim’s older sister. However, when the family rejected his proposal, the man decided to exact revenge by killing the eight-year-old, whose body was found in a pit. The accused was taken into custody and charged with murder.

In another incident in the northern Indian state of Haryana, a man killed his friend’s son by slitting the boy’s throat to take revenge on the victim’s father with whom he had a major dispute. The man killed the six-year-old boy and then called the police to report the incident. However, before the officers could reach the scene, the accused managed to flee. Following a search, he was arrested and charged with murder.