A two-year-old boy was allegedly drowned in the Ganga in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar by his sister and a cousin, both minors, because they did not want to take care of him when the parents were away at work, the police said on Monday.
On Friday, the parents of the boy reported him missing, and the police suspected the role of someone from inside the family, said Senthil Avoodai K Raj, senior superintendent of police, Haridwar.
The 14-year-old sister of the boy and a 13-year-old cousin were detained, and they confessed to committing the crime during questioning, Senthil said.
The sister said she had not been going to school for the past three months and that her parents had asked her to take care of the boy while they were away at work, the officer said.
The father owns a cycle repair shop and the mother works as a house help.
The sister and the cousin, who is the daughter of the boy’s uncle, sedated the boy using medicines kept at home on Friday morning around 5am. All family members including the parents were asleep at that time.
“After he was unconscious, the two girls put the baby in a bag, carried it to the Ganga in a cycle and threw it away,” Senthil said.
On Monday, the girls were presented before the juvenile justice board, which sent them to a correctional home for 14 days.
