The hospital in Dombivli where a woman allegedly killed her girl child.
A woman was arrested today for allegedly throwing her newborn daughter down from the second floor of a private hospital in Dombivli, 46 km from Mumbai. The body of the dead baby was discovered in the hospital compound on the morning of March 12.
The police, who had been investigating the case since, claim the woman, Sujata Gaikwad, 24, wished for a boy who could be a breadwinner for the family. Her husband Dattatray Gaikwad, 30, is a house painter, who spends his meagre earnings on alcohol.
The couple already has a daughter, who is around three years old.
"We arrested her on the basis of statements from other patients and the hospital staff," said Inspector Sunil Shivarkar. "During questioning, she said her husband did not work and that's why she wanted a boy who would be able to work when he grew up."
The woman claims her baby was stolen when she was not in her bed. "I had gone to the washroom. When I returned, my child was missing. When I raised an alarm, people started looking and found the child on the compound."
Ms Gaikwad had delivered the child five days before and she was to be discharged that day, the police said. Her mother and mother-in-law were with her. But the woman had sent them off, saying that the nurses wanted them to complete discharge formalities and used the opportunity to get rid of the baby, a police officer said.
The police said a patient, who was in the same ward, claimed she saw Ms Gaikwad heading for the terrace carrying the baby. When she returned, the baby was not in her arms. She also looked as though she had been crying, the patient had claimed.
The woman has been remanded in police custody for four days for further questioning.
The police had asked for the permission of a local court to conduct a lie detector test on her, but she has refused to undergo the test, claiming she was suffering from trauma.