AHMEDABAD: A woman was arrested in Ahmedabad after she allegedly failed to save her two-and-a-half month old daughter after the infant fell into a water tank and instead tried to hide the incident.
The incident was reported from the residential area of Amraiwadi in Ahmedabad.
The infant's father, Deepak Makwana, received a frantic call from a neighbour, while he was waiting in a queue to book a gas cyclinder, asking him to rush home.
When he reached home, he saw his daughter lying limp with a crowd gathered around, and was rushed to the hospital, where she was declared dead.
However, later, Deepak filed a complaint against his wife, Monica Makwana. He said she initially broke down but then confessed to a series of events that led to the infant's death.
Based on the complaint, the Amraiwadi Police registered a case of culpable homicide and took Monica into custody.
Monica reportedly told her husband, “When I went to start the motor, my daughter was with me. Suddenly, she slipped from my hands and fell straight into the water tank. I tried to pull her out, but she kept slipping deeper inside. I panicked… I got scared.”
She further said that instead of raising an alarm, she tried covering up the incident.
“I was terrified of what would happen to me. In fear, I closed the tank lid and covered it with a tarpaulin,” she allegedly confessed.
As soon as the infant was reported missing, family members and neighbours started searching for her. The baby’s grandmother, Lakshmiben, recalled the confusion and panic as the child suddenly vanished.
“We had no idea what had happened. We were out to buy vegetables, and when we returned, everyone was searching. Then someone said, ‘Check the water tank.’ When I opened it, there was chaos… people everywhere. I don’t even know who finally pulled her out,” she said.
The deceased's seven-year-old sister said, “I had gone to play. When I came back, my sister wasn’t in her crib. We kept looking everywhere… then we found her in the tank,” .
Neighbours rushed the child to the hospital after an ambulance reportedly failed to arrive in time but it was already too late.