Ludhiana woman convicted of burying neighbour’s toddler alive

The charges against the convict include kidnapping with intent to kill under section 364 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), with additional sections of murder (302) and destruction of evidence (201), which were added after the child’s death was confirmed

The court of sessions judge Munish Singal convicted a 35-year-old woman of the murder of two-and-a-half-year-old girl in the Shimlapuri area of Ludhiana in 2021. Convict Neelam had buried the toddler, her neighbour’s daughter, alive on November 28, 2021, in a pit she had dug in the Salem Tabri area. The quantum of sentence would be pronounced on Monday.

Convict Neelam had buried the toddler, her neighbour’s daughter, alive on November 28, 2021, in a pit she had dug in the Salem Tabri area. (Stock photo)

According to the police report, Neelam harboured a deep-rooted rivalry against the family, which was the reason she committed the crime. After burying the toddler alive, Neelam had returned home and put up an act of normal behaviour to avoid suspicion. The police report added that it was a planned murder.

Advocate PS Ghuman, representing the victim’s parents, said that the court had convicted Neelam of the murder. The sentencing is scheduled to take place on Monday, April 15, he added. The charges against the convict include kidnapping with intent to kill under section 364 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), with additional sections of murder (302) and destruction of evidence (201), which were added after the child’s death was confirmed.

The convict is divorced and has been living in her maternal house with her two sons since 2015. Her sons indulged in scuffles with other children on the street, after which some residents complained to her. Since then, she had started believing that everyone was against her and her children, the investigators said. A few days before the murder, Neelam had a spat with the toddler parents over some “petty” issue. She nursed a rivalry against them and murdered their daughter, the police report added.

Ghumman added the suffering caused to the child due to being buried alive is abnormal. “The accused knew that on being buried alive, the victim would die of suffocation and the sand/mud was likely to enter the nostrils, windpipe, lungs and then the blood stream. The victim being dies of asphyxia/suffocation and trauma,” he said.

He added that the prosecution presented 26 witnesses and evidence was convincing, credible and consistent.