Mother held for strangling infant, hiding body in granary in Uttar Pradesh’s Jewar

The suspects were identified by their first names as Hema, her husband Rohdas and his father Babu.

A 26-year-old woman was arrested by the Jewar police Thursday for allegedly strangulating her eight-month-old infant earlier this month and then hiding his body in a granary. The husband and father-in-law were also arrested for concealing the body.

Kumar Ranvijay Singh, superintendent of police (rural) with the three suspects. (SOURCED)

Police said the incident took place on August 11 in the Gopalgarh village under Jewar police jurisdiction.

The suspects were identified by their first names as Hema, her husband Rohdas and his father Babu.

“The woman during questioning revealed that on August 11, the whole family had gone out for a religious obligation. She stayed home with her two sons, aged 3 years, and eight months. Around 2pm, she strangled the boy “out of frustration”. Fearing that he was dead, she hid the body in a granary in the house and when the other family members returned, she told them that the infant was missing,” Kumar Ranvijay Singh, superintendent of police (rural), said.

Believing the woman’s story, the family filed a complaint at the Jewar police station that when the mother stepped out to feed cattle, someone kidnapped the boy who was asleep on a cot in the verandah. An investigation was started in the matter.

“The investigation revealed that the chances of someone else coming in and kidnapping the child were less and it seemed to be an insider’s job. On August 21, a team went to the house for further questioning and noticed a foul smell, after which Hema revealed that the boy had fallen off the cot and fearing a backlash from the family, she had hidden the body,” Singh said.

Police also said on August 20, when the foul smell started from the granary, she informed her husband and father-in-law about the incident and begged them not to say anything to the police. Following her confession, the other two removed the body, wrapped it in plastic and hid it in a stack of cow dung cakes at a neighbour’s plot, police said.

“The body was recovered yesterday and sent for an autopsy, which suggested death by strangulation,” the SP said.

Police said during investigation it was found that the couple didn’t get along. The woman further said her husband was unemployed and she suspected him of having an affair with a woman. The husband in turn suspected her of having an affair with his brother and would often even question the paternity of the baby.

She also alleged domestic abuse and said lack of funds made it difficult for her to take care of both children. So when the baby started crying on the day of the incident , out of sheer frustration, she strangled him, and later came up with the abduction story, police said.

The accused were booked under sections 302 and 201 of the IPC. They were produced before a magistrate and later sent to jail.