Horror as 20-day-old baby strangled to death by her own grandmother | World | News

A grandmother has been accused of strangling her 20-day-old granddaughter to death in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh’s Tikamgarh district after allegedly expressing disappointment that the child was not a boy, police said on Sunday.

The incident happened in Banne Buzurg village, which falls under the Palera police station area.

The accused, identified as 60-year-old Rekha, has been arrested and remanded to judicial custody.

Police said the baby’s father, Dhaniram, works as a labourer in Delhi, while his wife, Pukkhan, had been living at her in-laws’ home throughout her pregnancy. According to investigators, the grandmother had been unhappy following the child’s birth and had allegedly taunted her daughter-in-law for not giving birth to a son.

Police allege that at around 3am, while the mother and newborn were asleep, Rekha picked up the infant, carried her outside the house and strangled her before placing the baby’s body back beside her sleeping mother.

When the mother later woke and found her daughter unresponsive, she alerted other family members. Police said the grandmother then allegedly attempted to pass off the baby’s death as natural while organising local faith-healing rituals.

Officers from Palera police station arrived at the scene after being informed of the incident. During their examination, they discovered marks around the infant’s neck, prompting suspicion.

Police said sustained questioning of both the mother and the grandmother eventually uncovered the alleged circumstances surrounding the baby’s death.

The accused was subsequently arrested and produced before a court, which remanded her to judicial custody.

Further investigation is ongoing, and a case of murder has been registered.