Father Of Newborn Baby Girl Found Buried Alive Is Arrested

Indian police have arrested a man on suspicion of burying his newborn daughter alive because he wanted a boy. Local villagers rescued the baby over the weekend after spotting her feet sticking up from a shallow sand pit in farmland in the Jajpur district of the eastern state of Odisha.

Police arrested her father Ramesh Chandra for attempted manslaughter. Many Indian parents consider daughters to be a burden because of the huge dowries still frequently required for marriage, while sons are expected to support them in their old age.

Chandra, a 35-year-old part-time taxi driver, is suspected of taking the baby from her mother soon after she was born on Saturday. 'They were unable to explain about the missing child after we scanned the locality for expecting mothers,' investigating officer Jyoti Prakash Pande said.

He said Chandra under questioning had admitted burying the baby, saying he was too poor to raise a daughter.

The couple already have two daughters and a son and had aborted two earlier pregnancies, the officer said.