Parents held for killing 10-month-old girl

The parents of a 10-month-old girl were arrested for killing their baby in West Bengal's North 24-Parganas district, police said Sunday.

"A man and his wife have been arrested for killing their 10-month-old girl child on the basis of a complaint by their neighbours. They were presented before a court Sunday and remanded to judicial custody," said an officer of Bijpur police station.

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Police, however, refused to divulge the identities of the arrested couple.

The killing took place Saturday night in Halisahar in the district, some 50 km from Kolkata.

According to the police complaint, the couple was unhappy at the birth of a girl child and used to repeatedly torture the baby. The body of the baby bore several injury marks, including cigarette burns.

"We found the baby dead, lying near the roadside Saturday night following which we filed a police complaint. Both the parents, including the mother, used to torture her. They did not even feed her for days," said Durga, one of the neighbours.

"The baby was regularly tortured and despite our protests, the parents did not pay heed. Ultimately they killed her," said one of the complainants.