Warangal: A three-day-old girl child was allegedly killed by her grandfather Bichu Naik in Erragat-tuthanda in Rayaparthy mandal of Warangal Rural district.
District child welfare officer G. Mahender Reddy’s investigation into the matter started at the Wardhannapet health centre where the infant was born on September 4 in a normal delivery. She weighed 2.4 kg at birth and had no health complications. The mother and child were discharged from hospital the next day.
This was the second girl child born to the mother Mamatha, and villagers alleged that Bichu Naik was not happy with this and that is why he killed the infant on September 7, either by strangling her or by forcing paddy into her throat. He later buried the body on his agriculture land. When the villagers asked about the newborn, they were told that she had died due to ill health. They got suspicious and informed the Integrated Child Development Services officials.
“We collected all the information and filed a police complaint,” said child welfare officer Reddy. “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.”
A case under Section 174 of CrPC has been registered and investigation is underway.
Honorary president of the Balala Hakkula Sangham, Mr Achyuta Rao, demanded that the killer be given the death sentence.
“Bichu Naik and also the father of the child, Thirupathi, should be booked. The surviving child should be shifted to Shishu Gruha as she has no security in the family. Village politicians and elders should be made accountable for the incident as they failed to create awareness about gender equality. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights must take note of the incident,” he said.
