Desperate for a son, man kills newborn twin daughters, held

New Delhi, July 10

A 32-year-old man allegedly killed his three-day-old twin daughters and buried them near his house in outer Delhi’s Sultanpuri area. The accused, Neeraj Solanki, was arrested from Rohtak in Haryana.

A resident of Pooth Kalan village here, Solanki had been evading arrest by frequently changing his location.

The bodies of the infants were found on the premises of a makeshift crematorium near Pooth Kalan village by locals, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Amit Goel said. Solanki had killed his daughters on June 3.

Solanki, a graduate from Delhi University, is currently unemployed and survives on income from his rented properties.

The bodies were exhumed on June 5, after getting permission from a court, and kept at the mortuary of the SGM Hospital in Mangolpuri for postmortem, Goel said.

Solanki allegedly killed his three-day-old daughters as he wanted a son, the DCP said, adding that they were born at a private hospital in Haryana.

The police officer said Solanki brought the infants to Delhi by lying to his wife that they had died from an illness. The babies, who were alive on reaching Delhi, were killed and buried at the crematorium, Goel said.

Initially, Solanki’s father was detained, as the accused was at large. His father told the police that Solanki was upset over the birth of daughters, the DCP said.

Solanki’s sister and brother are absconding. His mother is paralysed. She may also be interrogated in connection with the case, another police officer said.

It is suspected that Solanki and his family did not feed the infants for the whole night due to which they died. The autopsy on the infants could not ascertain the exact cause of death but their viscera have been preserved for further investigations, the officer said.

The infants’ mother, who is a native of Rohtak, in her complaint, told the police that she got married to Solanki in 2022 but her relationship with her in-laws went sour as they would harass her regularly for dowry.