Mother kills daughter: 27-year-old woman arrested for strangling and burying her daughter; Police investigate motive behind the brutal act

Jamshedpur: A 27-year-old woman was arrested for killing her infant daughter and burying her body behind their house. The accused Laxmi Kumari was arrested on Monday based on a complaint lodged by her husband Sonaram Lohar. The incident took place in Jagjivan Colony under Chandil police station limits in Seraikela-Kharsawan district. The police said Laxmi’s motive behind the murder was not clear till Tuesday evening.

Police said Laxmi strangled her daughter Ridhi Kumari, aged four-and-a-half years, and buried her behind the family’s house on Mar 22. Sonaram, who lodged a missing complaint with the police. Suspecting Laxmi’s involvement in his daughter’s disappearance, Sonaram urged the cops to focus on questioning his wife.

Initially, Laxmi misled the police by claiming that her daughter had been abducted. When the cops began searches for the girl, Laxmi exhumed Ridhi’s body and placed it in the courtyard of their house. By the time police reached the spot on receiving the alert, Laxmi escaped from the house.

Workers of a nearby brick kiln apprehended Laxmi and handed her over to the police, following which she was arrested. “She is not mentally unstable but aggressive in her behaviour, " Chandil police station in-charge Dilson Birua said. “The accused’s husband claimed Laxmi had been brutal towards her daughter ever since she was born,” Birua added.