Suspecting wife’s affair, father injects newborn with pesticide in Odisha’s Balasore

PTI, May 30, 2023, 5:01 PM IST

Suspecting his wife of having an extramarital affair, a man allegedly injected his newborn daughter with a poisonous substance in Odisha’s Balasore district, a police officer said.

The infant was admitted to the district headquarter hospital in Balasore on Monday and her condition was stated to be serious, the hospital authorities said.

Balasore Superintendent of Police Sagarika Nath told PTI a suo moto case will be registered since no complaint has been filed till Tuesday.

Nath said, “Preliminary investigation revealed that the man suspected his wife of having an extra marital affair. “The accused, identified as Chandan Mahana, also doubted parentage of the infant.”

Chandan has been detained by the police following a hue and cry raised by the villagers, the SP said.

Chandan and Tanmayi got married last year and a child was born on May 9, police said.

After being discharged from the health facility, Tanmayi was sent by her in-laws to her parental house at Singhiri village under Nilagiri police limits.

The incident took place when Chandan visited his in-law’s place on Monday, the police said.

Upon hearing the baby’s cries, Tanmayi came out of the washroom and found a syringe in her husband’s hand and a pesticide bottle.

When she grilled her husband, at first he denied any wrongdoing but later admitted to have injected the newborn with pesticide, Tanmayi said.

“Traces of blood were found on the hands of my child and husband,” she said. The woman immediately informed her parents about the incident, who rushed the infant to a nearby Community Health Centre. The baby was shifted to a hospital in Balasore, 10 km from the village, after her condition deteriorated.