Indian sentenced to 10 years in jail for killing daughter

An Indian woman has been sentenced to 10 years in jail in Canada for brutally beating her three-year-old daughter to death with the judge calling her the child's "greatest enemy".
Nandini Jha, 38, who was originally charged with second-degree murder in the death of her daughter Niyati, was found guilty of manslaughter after a seven-week jury trial earlier this year.
In delivering her sentence, Superior Court Justice Deena Baltman said Jha was Niyati's sole protector but "instead of defending her, she beat her repeatedly, ultimately to death."
"This crime was a betrayal of the most sacred bond of trust and care that should exist between a parent and a child," Baltman said.

"The very person to whom a child would look for refuge turned out to be her greatest enemy," she was quoted as saying by CBC News.
Niyati sustained a massive brain injury in September 2011. She was unconscious when her family took her to a clinic near her home in Mississaugaand was declared brain dead in a Toronto hospital a day later.

"By the time Niyati arrived at the hospital her head had swollen to the size of a football and there was brain matter oozing out of her ear," Baltman said.
In addition to the fatal injuries Niyati suffered, her body was later found to be riddled with dozens of internal and external injuries, that included bruising, hemorrhaging and multiple fractures.

Jha was not a young inexperienced mother - she had a child before Niyati was born and two after - nor did Jha allege she was a victim of abuse herself, and there was no evidence at her trial of an addiction or a low intellectual ability, Baltman said.
The judge noted that Jha had immigrated to Canada from India with her husband "largely against her will." She had no family or friends, couldn't speak the language and felt burdened by the responsibility of raising the children virtually on her own while her husband worked long hours, Baltman said.
With credit for time already served, Jha now has nine years and two months left in her sentence, after which she could be deported to India as she is not a Canadian citizen.