A 55-year-old woman was arrested for allegedly burning the private parts of her four- year-old granddaughter with a tong in Chandigarh as she was upset at the birth of her third girl grandchild, police said.
The woman, identified as Kamla, had been cursing her daughter-in-law ever since she gave birth to the third girl four years back, SHO, Ding police station, Sirsa district, Inspector Jangir Singh told PTI over phone.
He said it also emerged during the preliminary investigation that Kamla earlier had even tried to kill the child, for which an attempt to murder charge has been added in the FIR registered against her.
"We arrested her from near her house in Maujukhera village in Sirsa district," Singh said.
"She has been booked under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015," he said. The SHO said the accused was "annoyed" at the birth of three grand daughters.
He said members of the Sirsa District Child Protection Committee, who learnt about the incident, rescued the child and took her to a hospital. Later, they lodged a police complaint, Singh said.
Notably, the 'Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao' campaign was launched in Haryana to improve its skewed sex ratio. The state is notorious for its adverse sex ratio.
Singh said while the accused woman was illiterate, her daughter-in-law had also been reluctant to complain about Kamla's behaviour.
"Kamla used to curse the daughter-in-law that she had given birth to a third girl. She also used to taunt her for being the only one in the family to have so many daughters.
"The accused felt proud that her own daughter and another daughter-in-law bore sons while the victim's mother was the only one to have three daughters," the SHO said while giving details what led to the shocking incident.
Kamla herself has two sons and a daughter. The victim's elder sisters are aged six and seven.The SHO said the girl's father too has given a statement to the police about her mother's actions.
About the condition of the child, Singh said, "The girl was initially admitted to a civil hospital in Sirsa and discharged later. However, the District Child Protection Committee people have once again got her admitted to the hospital owing to her condition."
The shocking incident,had come to light on July 18 when a member of the Sirsa District Child Protection Committee received information that a grandmother of a four-year-old girl allegedly burnt her private parts with "chimta" (tongs).
Police had, earlier, said there were burn injuries at and around the private parts of the girl.
On the complaint filed by the member of the Child Protection Committee, Geeta Kathuria, a case had been registered against unknown persons, earlier. However, the investigations led to the accused woman who was put under arrest.