According to police, the infant, Puja, was found with a noose made of the cradle's rope around her neck in the wee hours today.
"Puja's mother Kajal (21) told police that she had a nightmare past midnight that Puja's grandfather was beating her to death. After the bad dream, Kajal and her husband Arvind (30) woke up and checked Puja at around 3 am when they found she was lying motionless," said an officer attached to Vikroli police station.
Apart from the couple, Arvind's parents also stay in the flat.
"The family members told us that the rope found around Puja's neck was used for cradling her," the officer added.
Puja was rushed to civic-run Rajawadi Hospital where doctors declared her dead on arrival.
Police suspect an insider's role in the crime as the family has a long-pending property dispute.
A case of murder has been registered. Puja's postmortem report is awaited, the officer said.
