VILLUPURAM: A 29-year-old man was arrested on Tuesday for killing his 17-day-old daughter by burying her alive on the Thenpennai riverbed at Athandamaruthur village near Tirukovilur.

According to police, this was his second infanticide bid. He had tried to kill the baby when she was three days old, but was stopped by his relatives.

D Varadharajan, a farmer from Vadamaruthur village, got married to Saundharya of nearby Sundaresapuram village 15 months ago. They were living on their farm at Athandamaruthur.

Varadharajan was disappointed after Saundharya gave birth to a girl 17 days ago at Jipmer hospital in Puducherry, police said.

On Tuesday around 12.30am while Saundharya was asleep after feeding her newborn, Varadharajan took the baby to the Thenpennai riverbed, 500m away from his house. He dug a pit and buried the infant alive. When Saundharya woke up at 4am, she was shocked to find her daughter missing. She began screaming for help.

After Varadharajan confessed to the crime, the couple’s relatives and villagers alerted the Tirukovilur police. The infant’s body was exhumed in front of police and revenue officials.

Varadharajan told police that he was confident that they will have a son and had told his wife and relatives that if his wife gives birth to a girl, he may not keep the baby. But the family turned against us, he said.

The accused has been booked under Section 302 (punishment for murder) and Section 315 (act done with intent to prevent child being born alive or to cause it to die after birth) and 498a (husband or relative of husband of a woman subjecting her to cruelty) of the IPC. Further probe is on.