Unable to afford treatment, parents kill baby girl

Unable to afford costly treatment for their six-month-old daughter, a daily-wage labourer and his wife strangled her to death and dumped her body in a ditch near their home, Tripura Police said Friday.

Police Thursday arrested Laba Debnath, 53, the father of the ill-fated child, who confessed that he and his wife killed their baby girl Lina and later dumped her in a ditch near their Teliamura home in west Tripura, 55 km northeast of the state capital.

A police official, quoting the girl's father, said: "The baby had tetanus and also suffered a haemorrhage. Doctors had prescribed medicines that cost Rs.1,500 each day; one injection was priced at Rs.900 per dose."

"Laba Debnath (the girl's father) told us that the cost of his baby's treatment was way beyond his means as the sole breadwinner and daily-wage earner having to fend for his five-member family," the official said.

The family had sought the help of the village panchayat and the local administration, but to no avail.