Mother gets life term for drowning 6-month-old

A local court in Madhya Pradesh sentenced a woman to life imprisonment on Wednesday for killing her six-month-old daughter by drowning her in a drain over two years ago.

Pronouncing the verdict in the Arohi murder case in a crowded court room, in a case that sparked outrage ever since it happened in 2014, the additional district judge (ADJ) of Jabalpur, Rajiv Srivastav, sentenced 26-year-old Ritu Ahuja to rigorous imprisonment for life after convicting her of murdering her infant daughter, according to local public prosecutor L.S. Thakur.

According to the case diary, the toddler, Arohi, was found missing mysteriously from her house in Jabalpur town, nearly 300 km from here, on September 7, 2014.

The incident had sparked outrage in the state then, with the police failing to trace her for around ten days. Later, the police got suspicious about Ritu following her incoherent statement.

Footage of CCTV installed at a point in the town had helped the police crack the case.

“In the CCTV footage, woman was seen carrying her child in a baby bag. But, she was found returning empty handed”, the police case diary said.

Ritu was arrested on September 16, 2014 on the basis on circumstantial evidence. She had broken under intense grilling in police custody and confessed to her role in the murder of her child, the police said.

According to the case diary, the woman considered her baby girl an impediment in bringing up her son properly and decided to kill her. She carried the baby to an isolated area and dumped her in a drain, killing death.