The mother of a day-old baby girl has been arrested for allegedly strangling her daughter inside the maternity ward of the District Hospital in Madhya Pradesh’s Ashoknagar, with police saying the woman, who was hoping for a son, killed her daughter in a fit of anger.

Police said the case was cracked after investigators examined hospital CCTV footage, questioned family members separately, and confronted the woman with the available evidence.

The development came three days after the newborn was found dead at the hospital on October 3.

Story continues below.
Subscribe to see fewer ads.

The baby was born late on October 2 in the Chanderi area and was admitted to the hospital shortly after for medical observation.

She was subsequently found dead under suspicious circumstances. A medical examination found that the death was not natural and that the infant had died after her neck was compressed, following which a case was registered at Kotwali police station.

Investigators examined CCTV footage from cameras installed at the district hospital, but the maternity ward where the incident occurred did not have a camera, leaving a crucial gap in the investigation.

Ashoknagar Superintendent of Police Rajiv Kumar Mishra said the police team subsequently questioned the deceased infant’s relatives separately and examined the available facts and circumstantial evidence.

Story continues below this ad

The mother told investigators that she already had a daughter and had been hearing discussions within the family about the expectation of having a son. She had hoped that the second child would be a boy, police said.

‘Acted in a fit of anger’

When she gave birth to another girl at around 11.30 pm on October 2, she became disturbed, an officer said. The woman “became mentally disturbed and, in a fit of anger, strangled her newborn daughter,” the officer said.

“The baby had blood coming from her mouth and marks resembling pressure around her neck. Given these circumstances, the hospital treated the death as suspicious and informed the police, following which the body was sent for post-mortem examination,” an official had said at the time of death.

The possibility of a family member being responsible for the death had emerged also because access to the child was restricted as she was admitted to the Special Newborn Care Unit (SNCU).

Story continues below this ad

According to police, the mother was questioned after investigators found “discrepancies while reconstructing the circumstances surrounding the child’s death.”

“The questioning was conducted after obtaining medical clearance and with the required sensitivity, given that the suspect was herself the mother of the deceased newborn,” SP Mishra said.