Woman held for dropping month-old daughter into water tank. She wanted a son

The woman was produced before the district court from where she was sent to jail under judicial remand.

Updated on: Sep 19, 2020, 24:26:28 IST

Hindustan Times, Bhopal | By Shruti Tomar

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A 21-year-old woman was arrested in Bhopal on Friday for allegedly killing her one-month-old daughter since she wanted a male child, according to the police.

A 21-year-old woman was arrested in Bhopal on Friday for allegedly killing her one-month-old daughter. (HT FILE PHOTO.)

The woman, Sarita Mewada, a resident of Dehriya Khajoori village of the district was arrested under Section 302 (murder) of IPC after the police found inconsistencies in her statements. She confessed to the crime later, the police said.

Deputy inspector general (DIG) of police, Bhopal, Irshad Wali said, “The father of the baby, Sachin Mewada, lodged a complaint with the Khajoori police station on Thursday about his daughter reported missing from inside his house. A police team recovered the body of the baby from inside a 500 litre water tank kept inside a room of the complainant’s house with the lid shut from the top.”

“During the investigation police got to know that the child and her mother Sarita were alone in the house when the child was reported missing by the mother,” he added.

Police interrogated Sarita Mewada and she confessed to having committed the crime.

The DIG said, “In her statement given to the police, Sarita said she married Sachin Mewada a year ago. In August, she gave birth to a girl child but she was not happy as she wanted a boy. Sarita said her in-laws were also unhappy over the birth of the girl child. On Thursday, the baby was crying when she got upset and dropped her in the water tank. Then, she closed the lid of the tank.”

The woman was produced before the district court from where she was sent to jail under judicial remand.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shruti Tomar
I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More

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