A 15-day-old baby girl was allegedly beaten to death by her father, who was unhappy with the birth of a female child, at a village in Surat district, police said today.
An inebriated Raju U Thakre beat up the infant yesterday at their home in Chalthan village under Palsana taluka of Surat after a quarrel with his wife Minaben Thakre, Kadadra police station house officer Bhagabhai Dhirbhai Bhagol said, quoting the complaint filed by the girl's mother.
He said the deceased's mother also mentioned in her complaint that her husband wanted a male child and used to frequently quarrel with her since their daughter was born about 15 days back.
On Sunday night, he beat up the child and also hit her on the head following which she became unconscious.
The accused then left the home following which Minaben went out in search of him.
When she could not find him and returned home in the early hours yesterday, she found the baby dead, Bhagol said, adding that she subsequently lodged the police complaint against her husband.
The body was later sent for postmortem, he said, adding that a search has been launched a search to nab the accused.
The couple, from Tokar Talav village in Maharashtra's Nandurbar district, had been staying in Chalthan village and were engaged in collecting scrap from the area for their livelihood, he said.
