Mother kills newborn daughter by leaving her under direct sunlight to 'settle scores' with husband

Rajouri/Jammu: A woman allegedly killed her eight-day-old newborn daughter by leaving her in a nearly dry pond under direct sunlight, causing the baby to die from heat, hunger and thirst in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri district, officials said on Monday.

Police received a report on Sunday about an infant's body lying in a nearly dry pond in Kadma Prat village in Sunderbani tehsil and promptly sent a team to recover it, the officials said.

During investigation, the victim's mother, Sharifa Begum, accused the father, Mohammad Iqbal, of the crime, they said. However, it was found that he had left for Kashmir when the incident took place, the officials added.

This led investigators to focus on the mother, who was later detained for questioning, they said.

"She broke down during interrogation and confessed to the crime," an official said.

According to the officials, Sharifa had a confrontation with Iqbal and to settle scores with him, she murdered the infant by leaving her alone in a dry pond under direct sunlight and later put the blame on him.

A case of murder and other offences have been registered against Sharifa at the Sunderbani police station and further investigations are going on, they said.