Sonamura, Aug 10 — A five-month-old baby girl was allegedly killed by her mother at Rampada Para ADC village in Sonamura after the woman suspected the child to be illegitimate.
Police identified the accused as Suchitrabala Debbarma, who was reportedly involved in an illicit relationship with the cousin brother of her father-in-law, Nirmal Debbarma. Family sources claimed that when she became certain the infant was the child of her paramour and not her husband, she decided to take the extreme step.
Her husband, Amit Kumar Debbarma, had accepted the child, but frequent quarrels over the baby’s parentage persisted in the family. Suchitrabala allegedly endured constant humiliation and taunts from her in-laws over her character. Overcome with frustration, she is said to have smothered the baby with a pillow early Sunday morning.
Upon learning of the incident, a police team from Sonamura Police Station arrived at the spot and shifted the infant’s body to Sonamura Hospital. However, the post-mortem examination was postponed due to the unavailability of adequate medical officers. “We were told enough doctors are not in station, so the post-mortem will be conducted on Monday,” said the child’s grandfather.
Police have detained the accused, who has reportedly confessed to the crime.
This marks the second such infanticide case in Tripura in recent days. Earlier, a Tripura State Rifles (TSR) official was arrested for killing his infant daughter in Behalabari under Khowai district.
The horrific act has cast a pall of gloom over Rampada Para, with locals expressing shock and grief over the death of the child. Authorities have assured a thorough investigation into the incident.