Depressed Navi Mumbai woman held for killing daughter, tells cops she wanted a son

Mumbai, Dec 27 (PTI) A 30-year-old woman from Navi Mumbai has been arrested for allegedly killing her six-year-old daughter, apparently because she did not want a girl child, a police official said.

The woman, who is being treated for depression, has also told the police that she was upset because the girl did not speak Marathi.

According to the Kalamboli police official, the woman has studied BSc and lives with her husband, who is an IT engineer.

The woman took her daughter to a hospital on December 23, claiming that she had become unresponsive due to ill health. While doctors at the medical facility declared her dead, they also alerted the police.

An accidental death report was initially registered, but the post-mortem concluded that the child had been smothered. The police then registered a murder case, the official said.

During questioning on Friday, the woman told the police that she killed her daughter as she wanted a son. She was also unhappy that the girl’s speech was unclear and that the child spoke only in Hindi, not Marathi, the official said.

A local court has remanded the mother in police custody till Monday (December 30), the official said, adding that further investigation is underway. PTI ZA NR