A 35-year-old woman was arrested on Monday for allegedly strangling her two-month-old daughter in Kolkata after she said the baby was kidnapped by an unidentified man.
Police recovered the infant’s body late on Sunday from a manhole behind the family’s apartment in Beliaghata in east Kolkata.
The woman has confessed to having killed the child, police said.
“We have arrested the woman Sandhya Malo on charges of killing her baby Sanaya Malo. She claimed that she was tired of the baby and killed her. Further investigation is on,” Ajoy Prasad, deputy commissioner (eastern suburban division), said.
The woman, a housewife, had claimed that a man had barged into her second floor-flat when she was alone.
She said she fell unconscious after he pushed her and later found her daughter missing. The family raised a hue and cry and a search was initiated.
The woman allegedly strangled the infant with a tape.
When the police interrogated the woman they found some inconsistencies in her statements but later she confessed to the crime after sustained questioning, officials said.
“Preliminary investigations revealed that the woman killed the child because of post-natal depression. We could be taking the help of a psychiatrist if necessary,” a senior police officer said.