'Depressed' woman held for killing 2-month-old daughter

Kolkata: A woman probably suffering from "postnatal depression" was arrested on Monday on the charge of killing her two-month-old daughter whose body was found in a dry manhole near her residence here, police said. Police started a probe on Sunday after the 35-year-old woman alleged that her baby was kidnapped by an unidentified person from their flat in Beliaghata area of the city.

She had claimed that an unknown man barged into the flat in the afternoon when no one else was present, beat her up and fled with the baby, a senior officer of the Kolkata Police said. A search was launched and police started questioning the security guard of the building, the babysitter and the mother. Police found several discrepancies in her statement and she broke down following intense interrogation. The woman is probably suffering from "severe postnatal depression" which led her to strangle the baby and dump the body in a dry manhole, the officer said. Postnatal depression develops between one month and up to one year after the birth of a baby.

"There were several discrepancies in the claims of the woman. We started questioning her which continued for several hours after which she admitted to have committed the crime. We have arrested her," the IPS officer said. "She is also the mother of an 8-year-old boy. But why she got depressed with her newborn daughter is confusing. We are talking to psychologists to find out more," he said. Police was also not ruling out other angles such as the possibility of an extra-marital affair of the mother and the victim being a girl child. When produced at a city court, the mother was remanded to police custody till February 4.

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