Woman drowns sick 3-month-old granddaughter in water barrel

Pune: In a shocking incident, a 50-year-old woman allegedly killed her three-month-old granddaughter after being fed up of the baby's ailment and expenses incurred over her illness, police said on Wednesday.

The woman, identified as Sushila Sanjay Taru, allegedly drowned her granddaughter in a barrel of water stored in the house in Undri area here on Tuesday, when the child's mother was inside the bathroom and her father was in another washroom. A case of murder has been registered against the accused, police said.

"On Tuesday, the baby was left unattended in a cradle in the bedroom. Her mother was in bathroom whereas her father was in another washroom, and the suspect was having her breakfast. When the mother went to the bedroom, she did not see her baby in the cradle and they started searching for her in the house," Police Inspector Varsharani Patil, of Kondhwa police station, said.

The child's grandmother tried to mislead her son and daughter-in-law by saying that two women were seen at their doorsteps and they could have possibly taken the baby.

"However, later the baby was found dead in the barrel of water in one of the rooms and the parents alerted the police control room," she said.

Looking at the child's age, it was impossible for her to go to the barrel and it was clear that someone had put the baby in water, Patil said.

"During sustained investigation, the suspect spilled the beans and confessed to the crime. She told us that as the baby was ill since her birth, a lot of money was being spent and it was difficult to run the house as the family was debt-ridden," the inspector said.

Patil said during investigation, they came to know that the accused was also suspected to have aborted her elder daughter-in-law's pregnancy in the past, when she came to know that it was a female foetus. A case under relevant sections has been registered against the accused, police added.