In a shocking incident at Beliaghata on Sunday, a middle- aged woman was arrested for brutally killing her twomonth- old baby daughter and dumping the body in a manhole. Accused Sandhya Malo (35) had initially claimed that the baby girl was abducted by an unknown miscreant in the morning. The officers, however, found several discrepancies in her statements and later she broke down and confessed to her crime after hours of prolonged interrogation.

“Although initially it was suspected that the woman was probably suffering from postnatal depression, we are almost certain now that she either committed the crime under some kind of pressure or she did not want the baby to live for some reasons. She has also confessed that she had developed a dislike for the child over the last 10 to 15 days. The exact motive is still unclear but we are almost certain that it was not post-natal depression that led to the killing of her baby,” said Murlidhar Sharma, joint commissioner of police (crime).

He also said that the help of psychological experts is likely to be sought to untangle the complexities in the mind of the accused. Police started a probe on Sunday morning after Sandhya Malo alleged that her baby was kidnapped by an unidentified person from their C.I.T Road residence. She had alleged that an unknown man barged into her flat in the afternoon when she and the baby were alone at home. She was hit by the unknown youth who fled with her baby after she fell unconscious.

Meanwhile, her father-in -law entered into the room and found her in an unconscious state. A search was launched and police started questioning security guards of the flat, the maid and the mother. Later, the body of the baby was discovered from inside a dry manhole near the apartment. Autopsy report has revealed that the death was caused due to gagging with polythene in the mouth and strangulation marks have also been found. There are also injury marks on the baby’s rib and head. Cops are now questioning her husband and her in-laws.

“The accused has been charged under IPC section 302 and she has been remanded in police custody till 4 February,” said DC ESD Ajoy Prasad. Sandhya Malo, who lived with her husband Sudharshan Malo and her inlaws at the flat, has a nine-yearold boy. In another incident in the city, a 11-month-old baby was abducted from a footpath on Vivekananda Road on Saturday morning. The incident occurred sometime between 12.30 p.m. to 5 a.m. when her parents were fast asleep.