Woman, kin held for murder of child

BATALA: It’s a sordid tale of an adoption having gone awry, of benefactors turning assassins. Eleven-month-old Pooja — adopted by William Masih, a daily wager, and his wife Kanta — when she was not even a month old, was found dead by the police on Friday morning. 

The police had swooped down on the Masih house in Sarchurh village following an anonymous call and arrested Kanta and her sister-in-law Bholi for murder. 

Speaking here on Saturday, SHO Kamal Preet Singh of Ghania Ke Bangar police post said they have booked the two women under sections 302 and 34 of IPC. There were strangulation marks on Pooja’s neck, he said. The accused, he added, have admitted to having strangulated the child with a rope on Thursday night and planned to bury her the next morning. A local court on Saturday sent the two accused on three-day police remand. 

According to information, the men — William and his brother (Bholi’s husband) Emanuel — were not at home when the child was killed and have not been arrested in the case. 

Pooja was the granddaughter of David Masih, a resident of Ajnala and William’s brother-in-law. The cousins had apparently decided on the adoption even before the child was born. However, soon after the adoption, Kanta had misgivings and was not too keen on bringing up the child. Already a mother to 14-year-old son, she thought the girl was a burden on the family and that they would have to spend on her dowry once she gets married.