Two-Month-Old Boy Found Dead Inside Water Tank; Aunt Arrested

A 21-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly killing her two-month-old nephew by throwing him inside a water tank to “teach a lesson” to her sister-in-law.

The baby’s aunt, Oruganti Swetha, admitted to killing the child during the inquiry, police said.

The child went missing from his home in the Indian state of Telangana in the early hours of Friday, reported The New Indian Express.

The child's mother, Doosari Latha, woke up around 4 a.m. and noticed her son missing from the bed. She then alerted her parents and other members, who scoured the house and its premises for the baby.

After their search did not yield any result, the family called the local police station. Officers, who arrived at the house, found the child's body in the water tank on the rooftop. He was rushed to the hospital where he was declared dead on arrival, Deccan Chronicle reported.

After the incident, police found that there was no forced entry into the house and questioned family members. Primary inquiry revealed that Latha had been staying at her parents' home since the baby was born. She shared the house with her parents, her brother Balraj and his wife Swetha.

According to the investigation, Swetha and Latha used to fight often and a few days before the incident, Latha “insulted” Swetha after the latter had a miscarriage.

Latha apparently taunted Swetha that she will not have children in the future too. This made the accused hold a grudge against the baby’s mother, a senior police official told The New Indian Express.

Upset with Latha’s comments, Swetha decided to teach her a lesson and hatched a plan to kill her baby boy, the report said.

In the wee hours of Friday, when people in the house were sleeping, Swetha woke up and picked up the baby sleeping with his mother and grandmother. She took him to the rooftop and tried to kill the baby by smothering him and applying force to his chest. However, the distressed child began crying and that's when Swetha dropped him inside the water tank. She waited for another five minutes, to ensure that the child is dead before returning to her room.

Swetha later confessed to killing the baby, the report stated. She was arrested and sent to remand Saturday.

Recently, a similar case was reported in the Indian state of Punjab which saw an aunt being arrested for murdering her 3-month-old niece by throwing her alive into a septic tank.

Police said she committed the crime to avenge the infant's mother. The incident happened when the child's mother was away at work.