A 30-year-old man was arrested today for killing his 22-day-old daughter, police said.
R Madhaiyan and Mala, residents of Pennagaram taluk in the district, already have three girls aged eight, seven and two, police said.
Mala gave birth to another girl child at Government Head Quarters Hospital in Pennagaram on June 3.
Disappointed over this, Madhaiyan, a labourer, poisoned the newborn leading to her death yesterday. The family members buried the body on the pretext that the baby had died due to an illness, police said.
Suspicious villagers informed the police and they exhumed the body. This was sent for a postmortem in which it was found that the child was poisoned.
After an inquiry, Madhaiyan was arrested and charges under various sections of the IPC, including murder, were framed against him.
Police said though Madhaiyan had earlier made attempts to kill the child, it was prevented by Mala.
