Three days after a three-month-old Ahuti Joshi died at Mumbai’s KEM hospital of injuries, which doctors said was a result of child battering, the baby’s mother was arrested after confessing to beating her, Mumbai police said on Thursday. Police arrested Ahuti’s mother Dharmishta Joshi within hours of registering a case of murder and naming the baby’s parents and an unidentified person as the prime suspects.   

“Dharmishta confessed to having beaten up the child,” said Sunil Paraskar, regional additional commissioner of police.

Paraskar added police were probing the role of the child’s father, Kalpesh Joshi, to check if Dharmishta’s confession was a move to shield him or someone else. After registering the case, police had asked Ahuti’s parents to return to Mumbai from Gujarat where they were conducting her last rites.

The couple, Kalpesh’s sister, Sheetal, and a masseuse hired for the baby are being questioned at Borivali police station.

The death of Ahuti's twin sister 12 days after their birth has also come under the police scanner. Senior inspector Bhagwan Chate of Borivali police station said, “We will also probe the death of Ahuti’s twin.”

Ahuti’s parents had admitted her to the hospital with a skull fracture last week.