A 20-day-old baby girl's death in Madhya Pradesh's Tikamgarh district has left an entire neighbourhood in shock after it emerged that the killer was not a stranger but the infant's own grandmother. The incident has been described as one that shames humanity, coming as it did at the hands of someone meant to protect the child rather than harm her. Police in the Palera police station area arrested 45-year-old Rekha Adivasi, the child's grandmother, for strangling her 20-day-old granddaughter Manisha to death in Bannebuzurg village. Police registered a murder case against the accused woman, produced her in court and sent her to jail. The investigation is still ongoing.
What happened at 3 AM that night
According to the information available, Manisha was sleeping beside her mother, Pukkhan Adivasi. Around 3 AM, grandmother Rekha arrived and picked the baby up. A short while later, she placed Manisha back next to Pukkhan and walked away. When the baby showed no movement afterwards, Pukkhan grew suspicious and tried shaking her, but got no response. She broke down crying, and soon the entire family was in shock. Police were informed about the incident immediately.
A cover story about a faith healer, then the truth came out
Initially, the family tried to mislead police instead of revealing what had actually happened. They claimed the baby had died after being taken to a faith healer for a ritual to ward off evil. Jhad-phoonk refers to a traditional faith-healing ritual practised in rural areas to ward off evil spirits, and the family leaned on this excuse in an attempt to link the baby's death to it. However, this cover story did not hold up for long under police questioning, and the truth surfaced within a short time. Grandmother Rekha eventually confessed to the crime herself.
Mistreated since the day she gave birth to a daughter
Manisha's mother, Pukkhan Adivasi, said in tears that her mother-in-law Rekha never liked daughters. Rekha allegedly began mistreating her right after Manisha's birth. Pukkhan said her husband, Dhaniram, works as a labourer in Delhi, and in his absence, her mother-in-law would not even give her proper food. According to Pukkhan, Rekha believed that having a daughter in the family would force them to bow before others and that they would eventually have to spend heavily on her wedding. In many parts of rural India, a preference for sons over daughters remains rooted in fears about wedding expenses and social standing, an attitude reflected in the reasoning Pukkhan says her mother-in-law gave for resenting Manisha. This mindset, Pukkhan said, is what made Rekha resent the newborn.
Postmortem confirms death by strangulation
Tikamgarh ASP Vikram Singh said police received information that the baby had been found dead, following which officers reached the spot, took custody of the body and sent it for a postmortem. The postmortem report confirmed that the baby's death was caused by strangulation. Based on the report, police registered a murder case and launched an investigation. It was this postmortem finding that turned a suspicious infant death into a formal murder case, and further questioning led investigators to conclude that the child had not been killed by an outsider but by her own grandmother, Rekha. Police then arrested the accused woman and sent her to jail. ASP Vikram Singh said further investigation into the case is continuing.
