In a shocking incident that highlights the persistent societal preference for male children, a 22-year-old woman was arrested in Ghaziabad for allegedly killing her newborn daughter less than an hour after giving birth. The police stated that the accused, identified as Jharna, was desperate to have a son.
A Grisly Discovery on a Rooftop
The tragic event came to light on December 5 at around 6:30 am. Vinay Rawat, a resident of Nehru Nagar's Rakesh Marg, discovered the body of a newborn baby on his roof and immediately informed the police. Assistant Commissioner of Police (Nandgram) Upasana Pandey noted that the infant appeared to have been born only a few hours earlier.
Investigations led the officers to a rented house where Shankar Sen, originally from West Bengal's West Medinipur, lived. Neighbors informed the police that Sen's sister-in-law, Jharna, who was pregnant, had arrived at the house about a month prior. When the police team reached the location, they found Jharna with her sister, Savita.
The Contradictory Claims and the Harsh Truth
Initially, Jharna claimed that due to poverty, she had to deliver the baby at home. She alleged that the newborn "was not breathing" and that she and her sister had tried to dispose of what they believed was a stillborn child in a nearby vacant plot. According to her, the body accidentally fell onto the neighbor's terrace.
However, the post-mortem report completely contradicted her statement. The doctor who conducted the autopsy informed the police that the baby girl was alive when she suffered fatal injuries. Her skull was broken, and her arm and leg bones were fractured. The medical expert confirmed that these severe injuries were inflicted within an hour of her birth.
A Desperate Quest for a Son
Under sustained questioning, Jharna eventually broke down and confessed to throwing the alive infant from the terrace. Police revealed that Jharna, who hails from Bihar's Darbhanga and had married a man named Badal about a year and a half ago, was intensely desperate for a male child.
Her desperation led her to undergo an illegal sex determination test five months ago at a private nursing home in Darbhanga. When the test indicated she was carrying a girl, she attempted to terminate the pregnancy. She visited a hospital alone seeking an abortion, but doctors refused, citing medical complications. She then took medicines suggested by women in her family, which caused her health to deteriorate.
Jharna arrived at her sister's house in Ghaziabad on November 14. In the early hours of December 5, she went into labor. Despite her sister urging her to go to a hospital, she refused and delivered the baby at home around 6 am. "She said that she had panicked and was scared of informing her husband that she had delivered a girl," ACP Pandey stated. After the birth, she threw the newborn from the terrace, intending for the body to land in an empty plot, but it fell about 20 feet away onto Rawat's roof, where it was found wrapped in polythene.
The Ghaziabad Police have booked Jharna under Section 91 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for causing death immediately after birth. Statements from her sister and brother-in-law have been recorded, and a DNA test will be conducted. Authorities are also trying to contact her husband in Darbhanga as the investigation continues.
