The police have arrested a 24-year-old woman for smothering her one-day-old baby girl to death inside the government district hospital in Madhya Pradesh's Ashoknagar on Saturday because she wanted a baby boy.
According to the police, the accused has been identified as Bhavana Vishwakarma, a resident of Sakarra village in Chanderi.
"Bhavana had given birth to a baby girl at the district hospital around 11 pm on Friday night. Shortly after birth, the newborn was shifted from the PNC ward to the SNCU," Superintendent of Police Rajeev Mishra said.
The crime
According to police, the infant was wrapped in a blanket, sleeping beside the accused on Saturday, while the mother-in-law was asleep. It was then that Bhavana allegedly smothered the child with the blanket.
"After about two to three minutes, believing the baby had died, she released her grip. About half an hour later, blood was seen coming from the baby's mouth. The woman informed her mother-in-law, who rushed the infant to a doctor, where she was declared dead," the officer said.
Hospital staff said the woman had been crying since Saturday morning, but no one realised she was distressed about giving birth to a girl.
{{/usCountry}}Hospital staff said the woman had been crying since Saturday morning, but no one realised she was distressed about giving birth to a girl.
{{/usCountry}}The doctor at the district hospital informed the police, and a postmortem was conducted. The postmortem report confirmed the cause of death as smothering.
"After the postmortem report, we interrogated the father and grandparents of the child. On Monday, we recorded the statement of Bhavana, and she confessed to the crime," the SP said.
What the accused told the police
During interrogation, Bhavana told police she had hoped for a son but was distressed after giving birth to a second daughter. She already has a two-year-old daughter.
"She was worried about the responsibility of raising two daughters and feared taunts from her family," the SP said.
Police have registered a case of murder, and the woman has been taken into custody. Further investigation is underway.