In a horrifying incident, a newborn infant was allegedly murdered by her own grandfather in Telangana, who was upset because he wanted a boy, and reportedly stuffed grains of paddy into her mouth. The incident took place in Rayaparthy mandal on Sunday, but came to light on Monday.
Speaking to reporters, District Child Protection Officer Thirupathi Reddy, said that the accused, identified as Bheechya, killed his granddaughter in a fit of rage and buried her body in a nearby field.
Authorities said that the girl was born on September 4 and weighed 2.4 kg at birth, and had no health complications. This was the second girl born to the mother, who was discharged along with the infant, from the hospital, a day after giving birth.
Investigation officials said that on September 8, Bheechya committed the crime and told local residents of his village that the infant had died of ill-health. Suspicious locals then informed Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) officials, who stepped in to investigate.
On Monday, a delegation including Thirupathi Reddy, Tahsildar Gujjula Ravinder Reddy and Sub-Inspector J Lakshman Rao, visited the village and spoke to locals about the incident. They also dug out the infant's body, from where it had been buried.
“We collected all the information and filed a police complaint. We will exhume the body of the infant on Tuesday and postmortem will be conducted to find out the cause of the death. Collector M. Haritha has directed us to take stringent action against the accused if found guilty,” Thirupathi Reddy was quoted as saying.
Meanwhile, activist Achyuta Rao of the Balala Hakkula Sangham, a child rights organisation, demanded strict action against the accused.
Stating that officials should act swiftly to ensure justice, he also demanded that members of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) visit the village.