14-day-old girl found dead in Vikhroli flat

A 14-day-old girl was found dead in her crib at the family’s Vikhroli home in the early hours of Tuesday. The police are probing whether it is a case of female infanticide.

The infant lived with her parents, grandmother and uncles in a chawl in Tagore Nagar locality. The girl’s mother, Kajal Gorkhsha, has told the police that she suspects the involvement of her father-in-law with whom the family was having a property dispute. The father-in-law, who lived in Kalyan, was against the birth of a girl child in the family, said the police.

All the family members, including the grandfather, have been detained for interrogation, said the police.

Around 11pm on Monday, Gorkhsha had tucked her into bed. SI Mahipat Indalkar of Vikhroli police station said that when Gorkhsha woke up around 3am, she found the windows and doors of the house open. “She found the girl lying still in the crib with ligature marks around her neck... It then dawned upon her that the child was not breathing,” said Indalkar.

For now, the police have registered a case of ‘accidental death’. The body has been sent to Rajawadi Hospital for an autopsy. “Depending on the findings of the post-mortem examination, necessary changes could be made to the case,” said Indalkar. The police said that the child’s mother says she had dreamt of the grandfather trying to strangle her child.