Madhya Pradesh woman kills one-day-old daughter for wanting a son, arrested

During interrogation, the accused told police she had hoped for a son but was distressed after giving birth to a second daughter.

The police have arrested a 24-year-old woman for smothering her one-day-old baby girl to death inside the government district hospital in Madhya Pradesh's Ashoknagar on Saturday because she wanted a baby boy.

According to the police, the accused has been identified as Bhavana Vishwakarma, a resident of Sakarra village in Chanderi.

"Bhavana had given birth to a baby girl at the district hospital around 11 pm on Friday night. Shortly after birth, the newborn was shifted from the PNC ward to the SNCU," Superintendent of Police Rajeev Mishra said.

According to police, the infant was wrapped in a blanket, sleeping beside the accused on Saturday, while the mother-in-law was asleep. It was then that Bhavana allegedly smothered the child with the blanket.

"After about two to three minutes, believing the baby had died, she released her grip. About half an hour later, blood was seen coming from the baby's mouth. The woman informed her mother-in-law, who rushed the infant to a doctor, where she was declared dead," the officer said.

Hospital staff said the woman had been crying since Saturday morning, but no one realised she was distressed about giving birth to a girl.

The doctor at the district hospital informed the police, and a postmortem was conducted. The postmortem report confirmed the cause of death as smothering.

"After the postmortem report, we interrogated the father and grandparents of the child. On Monday, we recorded the statement of Bhavana, and she confessed to the crime," the SP said.

What the accused told the police

During interrogation, Bhavana told police she had hoped for a son but was distressed after giving birth to a second daughter. She already has a two-year-old daughter.

"She was worried about the responsibility of raising two daughters and feared taunts from her family," the SP said.

Police have registered a case of murder, and the woman has been taken into custody. Further investigation is underway.

I have spent over a decade chronicling Madhya Pradesh’s political and social landscape, covering politics, investigative journalism, crime, human interest, and government policy, blending sharp insight with ground‑level depth. I have closely tracked three assembly elections, three Lok Sabha elections, leadership transitions in MP while exposing governance lapses, tender irregularities, and flawed policy rollouts. My reports have revealed gaps in the Cheetah project, irregularities in medical education, rigging in recruitment exams, and loopholes in policy implementation. In crime reporting, I have moved beyond FIRs to map systemic patterns — from organised crime networks and gender‑based violence to custodial accountability — balancing urgency with sensitivity. My journalism is defined by a commitment to human interest. I have profiled the marginalised Bancchda community, documented atrocities against tribal groups, and highlighted efforts to preserve their culture through heritage liquor and revival of spiritual practices. I have reported on farmers struggling with failed MSP promises, giving voice to those often reduced to statistics in policy files. Passionate about field reporting, I have reported on rampant sand mining in Chambal and Narmada, pharmaceutical companies supplying medicines under altered names, the dire condition of schools and colleges, the plight of commercial sex workers, and skewed sex ratios in specific districts. Beyond deadlines, and as HT’s state correspondent and assistant editor in Madhya Pradesh, I engage with ministers, farmers, students, and activists, believing the best policy stories begin with a single human voice. A postgraduate in Journalism and Mass Communication, I also hold a diploma in sports journalism.Read More