Facing financial trouble, a man threw his 11-month-old son into a canal in Rajasthan's Jalore district and lied to his wife that he had dropped him off at his father's place, according to police.
The accused, Mukesh Berwal, a resident of Gujarat, has been arrested and the infant's body has been recovered, the police said.
"The couple wanted to give a good life to their son but Mukesh was barely earning anything. As he was not even able to feed his son, he decided to kill him.
"He knew about the Narmada canal in Jalore, nearly 50 km from his place in Gujarat, and decided to throw his son into it," said Station House Officer, Sanchore, Praveen Kumar.
The accused came to Jalore's Sanchore area with his wife Usha and son Rajveer on Thursday. He lied to his wife that his father lives in a village in Sanchore and they can leave Rajveer with him, the SHO said.
"Later, Mukesh told his wife to wait for him at a place near the canal while he would go and drop Rajveer at his father's home. He told Usha that since their's was an inter-caste marriage, his father would not accept her," he added.
Berwal threw his son into the canal 150-200 metres from the place where his wife was waiting. He returned to Usha and told her that Rajveer was with his father now, Kumar said.
However, a local man, who had seen Berwal throw the infant into the canal, caught him and handed him over to the police, he said.
During interrogation, Berwal confessed to his crime. He has been arrested he said.
"Meanwhile, a rescue operation was launched and divers started looking for the boy. The body was recovered on Friday," the SHO said, adding that it has been handed over to the infant's mother.
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