Newborn dies as man forces wife, four-day-old son outdoors in cold

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, December 25

While Christmas is the season of hope and floods our mind with the images of a newborn baby Jesus with angels and cherubims by his side, this year the celebration has coincided with a tragic incident where a man’s callouness caused his four-day- old son to lose his life. The police is yet to lodge an FIR in the case as they said the claims on both sides were being investigated.

The four-day-old child died of cold when his father forced his mother and the newborn to spend the night in the open. The Chakk Sabu village-based man forced his newborn and wife to spend four nights in the open after he drove them out of his house. On December 19, the newborn died of cold, unable to brave the chilly nights in Jalandhar. The police said the matter was under investigation and the child was also born premature.

Probe on to find if woman spent night in open

The case is under investigation. It has come to the fore that the child was premature. We are also investigating whether the woman actually spent the night in the open. —Neeraj Kumar, SHO, Phillaur

As per preliminary information, the 20-year-old woman was living with her husband Jeetu (22) at Chakk Sabu village. The woman’s sister, in her complaint to the police, alleged that Jeetu had repeatedly expressed desire to marry her minor sister. Upon refusal by wife, the man used to beat her up. His wife gave birth to a son on December 15. On December 16, Jeetu, on being provoked by his relatives, thrashed her again.

He then forced her to stay with their four-day-old son in the open in the courtyard his own house. Due to extreme cold, the child died.

It was alleged that even after the infant’s death, the man insisted to his wife that she should get him married to her minor sister if she wanted to stay happy.

On Saturday, the woman’s relatives called the 108 Ambulance repeatedly, but it didn’t turn up. The woman’s brother was then forced to arrange a makeshift cart to ferry her to a hospital. A video of the woman being taken on a cart has also gone viral on the social media.

Neeraj Kumar, SHO, Phillaur, said, “The case is under investigation. It has come to the fore that the child was premature. We are also investigating whether the woman actually spent the night in the open. The woman’s brother-in-law had also offered her husband to get him married to another girl if he paid him Rs 30,000. All these claims are being looked into. The woman is currently under treatment at the Civil Hospital, Jalandhar. It is true that the 108 ambulance didn’t turn up when called. So the woman’s brother had to take her himself to the hospital.”

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