Police dig out baby girl’s body to probe murder claim

KOLKATA - Police dug out the body of a nine-month-old baby from a grave in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district and sent it for autopsy Thursday after locals alleged that the girl child had been murdered by her grandmother.

Police dug out the body of Choti from Harish Chandra Ghat in Kharagpur town Wednesday. The child’s parents Kiran and Sailendra Bhagat, in Inda-Malibagan in Kharagpur town, had claimed their baby was ailing and died Wednesday morning.

“But Thursday morning the neighbours lodged a complaint with the police saying Choti was strangulated to death by her grandmother Sonali Bhagat. In a First Information Report they alleged the body was buried in haste without consulting doctors in order to hide the crime,” said Kushal Moitra, officer-in-charge Kharagpur-Town police station.

Raj Dillam, a complainant, alleged the Bhagats were not happy since Kiran gave birth to a girl child. Sonali and her son used to regularly blame Kiran for giving birth to a girl. “We went to their house and asked them about the aliment the child was suffering from. But they could not give us any answer,” said Dillam.

“The attitude of the Bhagat family members made us suspicious that Choti was killed and we later came to know that she had been strangulated to death by her grandmother,” said Dillam.

The magistrate of Kharagpur sub-division, Dilip Chowdhury has ordered a detailed probe into the matter, said the officer.

“On Chowdhury’s instruction, the body was dug out from the grave and sent to the Kharagpur sub-divisional hospital for autopsy,” said Moitra.

All members of the Bhagat family were interrogated. “We are now awaiting the autopsy report,” the officer added.