Mother kills newborn girl as she, her husband ‘didn’t want a fourth daughter’

Police have recovered the body of a newborn that was allegedly thrown into the water by her mother after being strangled to death on Tuesday in Satkhira's Tala upazila.

The mother, Shyamoli Ghosh (35), was detained following the incident, said local people. Meanwhile, the father – Manik Ghosh – is on the run.

According to locals, Shyamoli from Raipur village in Khalilnagar union of the upazila gave birth to her fourth daughter on 25 May this year, after which Manik left home and moved elsewhere.

Since Tuesday morning, the 8-day-old baby girl was missing, they said, adding the body of the newborn was later found floating in a pond near their house, as the family members including the villagers started to look for her.

Ajmir Hossain, a local from Raipur village, said the Manik-Shyamoli couple was hoping to have a son after giving birth to three girl children.

Azizur Rahman Litu, chairman of Khalilnagar union parishad, said, "I have been informed that Shyamoli's husband Manik threatened to divorce her, if she doesn't kill the child. Shyamoli did what she was told to do and threw the baby into the pond."

Mehedi Russell, officer-in-charge of Tala police station, did not receive phone calls when The Business Standard tried to contact him for his comment on this incident.