Unable To Conceive, Woman Kills Neighbour's Son To "Please Gods": Delhi Police

In a desperate attempt to conceive a child, a woman killed her neighbour's three-year-old son on the advice of an occultist, stuffed his body in a plastic bag and dumped it on the roof of a building in northwest Delhi's Rohini, the police said on Sunday.

The 25-year-old woman, who has been arrested, told police that she was under a lot of pressure to conceive a child and was being taunted by her in-laws and relatives which led her to approach an occultist who suggested her to sacrifice a child to please the gods, they said.

She then killed her neighbour's son and stuffed his body in the plastic bag, the police said.

Neelam Gupta told the police that she got married in 2013 but could not bear a child despite consulting doctors. So she went to an occultist four years back at her native village in Uttar Pradesh's Hardoi who suggested that she should sacrifice a child if she wanted to conceive, a senior police officer said.

The matter came to light on Saturday after the missing boy's parents approached the police with a complaint following which a thorough search was carried out by the police to trace the child, the officer said.

During the search operation, one of the staff noticed a bag on the roof of the adjacent house. When it was opened, the body of the missing child with injury marks on his neck was recovered. Prima facie observation revealed that the boy was strangled, the senior police officer said.

Based on the statement of the child's father, a case of murder was registered. During the course of the investigation, family members, relatives and neighbours were questioned and it was found that the child was last seen with one of their neighbours, he said.

When questioned, Neelam initially tried to mislead the police but later confessed that she had killed the boy when he was playing alone on the roof, he added.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Rohini) Pranav Tayal said, "During interrogation, the woman said she was under a lot of pressure to conceive and was taunted by her in-laws and society. So, she approached an occultist in Hardoi four years back who suggested her to sacrifice a child if she wanted to conceive."

"In sheer desperation to have a child of her own, she decided to kill her neighbour's son to make the almighty happy. As per the plan, on Saturday, when she found the child playing alone on the roof of the building, she went and killed him," he said.

The woman is a homemaker and her husband is a vegetable vendor, the police said.

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