A 40-year-old man was arrested for allegedly kidnapping and killing his own daughter in south-east Delhi’s Jamia Nagar on Thursday.
The police said Rashid Zamal, a rag picker and resident of Shaheen Bagh, was arrested for throwing his one-year-old daughter in the drain where she died and was found on Thursday. “He told us that he disliked her and didn’t want to take care of her because she was often very ill,” said a senior police officer.
On the intervening night of September 18 and 19, the police received a call from the area stating that a man is beating his wife and children. When the police reached the spot, Rashid’s wife Mofida Begum told them that he had taken his daughter with him. “The wife said he was beating her, his elder son and the daughter. The son managed to flee and when the wife went out to call the neighbours, he left with the daughter,” said the officer.
The police then searched the area and found him lying inebriated, in the bushes a few meteres from the house. When questioned, he couldn’t explain clearly where his daughter was but managed to say that he threw her in a drain.
“The whole area was searched but the girl couldn’t be found at the time. A case of kidnapping was registered and Rashid was taken for one-day custody. He said he was drunk and didn’t remember anything,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (South-East) Romil Baaniya.
However, on sustained questioning, he took the police to the place where he had thrown the girl. Finally, 56 hours after the incident was reported, the girl’s body was recovered from a drain parallel to the one Rashid had pointed out.
The police said he felt no remorse over the incident and told them that the girl was ill and already dead; he just dumped her.
According to the police, Rashid has three wives and eight children. The victim was the daughter of his third wife.