A migrant labourer and his wife killed their three daughters as they could not raise them because of poverty in Punjab's Jalandhar, said police on Monday.
They confessed their crime hours after the bodies of three sisters were found inside a trunk in their house in Kanpur village, they said.
Sushil Mandal and his wife Manju Devi, both daily wagers, gave their daughter milk mixed with pesticides on Sunday and later they stuffed their bodies inside the trunk.
The couple reported the girls -- Kanchan (4), Sakshi (7) and Amrita (9) -- missing the same night at Maqsudan Police Station, a police official said.
They had five children, police said.
Speaking to reporters, Jalandhar Rural Senior Superintendent of Police Mukhwinder Singh Bullar said they scanned nearby CCTV cameras and found that the girl did not come out of the house.
During questioning, the couple confessed that they poisoned them as they could not bring them up because of poverty and concocted the story of girls going missing after killing them, police said.
The husband-wife duo also told police they could take care of only two children. A case of murder has been registered and both have been arrested, SSP Bullar said.
Published 02 October 2023, 15:31 IST