Poverty drove mother to kill minor daughter, say police

CHANDIGARH: The police arrested Sarangpur resident Manju Devi last night for allegedly killing her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, whose mutilated body was found dumped in a gunny bag in the Industrial Area, Phase II, yesterday.

Manju Devi, mother of victim Peehu, in police custody in Chandigarh on Wednesday. Tribune Photo: S Chandan

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 13

The police arrested Sarangpur resident Manju Devi last night for allegedly killing her two-and-a-half-year-old daughter, whose mutilated body was found dumped in a gunny bag in the Industrial Area, Phase II, yesterday.

The police claimed she killed her daughter as she was finding it hard to run her house and raise her four children. “Her family is poor. Manju had two daughters and was worried how she would get them educated and married later. She decided to kill the youngest one, Peehu, alias Guddi. She banged her head against the wall several times and then strangled her to ensure that she was dead,” said DSP Satish Kumar.

Giving details at a press conference, he said Manju put the baby’s body in a gunny bag and tied it with a thread. She hired two auto-rickshaws to dump the body. She hired the first auto from near her home to the Kisan Bhawan chowk from where she took another auto to the Tribune chowk. She then walked some distance to dump the body.

After returning from the spot in the evening, she raised a hue and cry outside her rented home at Sarangpur stating that her daughter had gone missing while playing outside the house. The next day, her husband, Rameshwar Singh, a gardener, lodged a police complaint alleging that someone had kidnapped his daughter. After receiving the complaint, the police issued a lookout notice. They later got information from a passerby about the recovery of a body, which had been eaten by dogs. Later, the body was identified by the victim’s father.

The police questioned several suspects and found contradictions in the statements of Manju and those of her husband and neighbours. She failed to give satisfactory replies to questions asked by the police. The accused, a domestic help, has been booked under Sections 302 (murder) and 201 (disappearance of evidence) of the IPC. The police said there was no involvement of any other person in the crime and her husband did not know about it.