A man allegedly killed his 20-day-old daughter by feeding her donkey’s milk laced with poison at his in-laws’ house at Haadihosahalli village in Thyamagondlu in Nelamangala taulk of Bangalore Rural district on Sunday night.

Police have arrested Nandish, on a complaint from Savitha, the mother of the child.
Savitha, who married Nandish of Pavagada two years ago, delivered a female child 20 days ago.

It is learnt that Nandish was upset with the birth of the girl child, as an astrologer had told him that he would die within two months, as his daughter was born during an inauspicious moment. The astrologer is reported to have told Nandish that he would live if his daughter died.

Sources in the police department said that Nandish, shocked by the prediction, went to his wife’s village on Sunday evening. According to police, he collected a plastic bottle, filled it with donkey’s milk and mixed a poisonous substance in it. He told his in-laws that he wanted to feed his daughter the donkey’s milk as it has medicinal values.

Later, the child began to froth at the mouth and was rushed to the Thyamagondlu government hospital, where she received first aid. The child’s condition continued to deteriorate, and on the advice of the doctors, the couple took the child to the Tumkur government hospital. However, the child died at the hospital, police said.

Savitha accused her husband of killing her daughter as he did not want a baby girl. Her relatives claimed that Nandish wanted to murder his wife and his daughter.
Nandish told the police that he did not want to kill the girl. He claimed that the bottle might have been contaminated.

The police sent the bottle for tests to ascertain if it had been contaminated.
“We will be able to ascertain the cause for the death in a
couple of days after obtaining the post mortem report,” they said.