A couple has been arrested after allegedly poisoning their three-month-old daughter by feeding her milk mixed with insecticide in Sawardi, in Kolhapur. On Wednesday, December 12, the couple were produced before a local court and were remanded in police custody until December 15.
Speaking to the Times of India, police said that the couple — 28-year-old Prakash Bandu Padawe and his wife, 21-year-old Jayashri Padawe — killed the child in October as they had wanted a son. “On July 4, Jayashri gave birth to a second daughter. The couple wanted a son and they poisoned the baby with insecticide mixed with milk a month (three months) later,” RR Patil, Shahuwadi’s deputy Superintendent of Police, told TOI.
Reportedly, after poisoning the child, the couple took the baby to a government hospital where she was pronounced dead before arrival. According to Patil, doctors at the hospital grew suspicious after Padawe and his wife opposed the conducting of an autopsy on the child. Patil said, “The hospital told police about the baby’s mysterious death and her parents’ refusal for autopsy. We rushed to the hospital.”
Patil noted that Jayashri’s suspicious behaviour made police insist on getting an autopsy. “The viscera was preserved and we handed over the body to the Forensic laboratory, Kohlapur. On December 12, we received the report which stated that death was due to poisoning,” reported TOI.
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