A 26-year-old father in Jodhpur allegedly slit the throat of his 4-year-old daughter to perform a sacrifice and appease 'Allah' during the ongoing holy month of Ramzan, according to the police. He was arrested by Jodhpur rural police on Saturday.

The incident took place at Pipad in Jodhpur district. Superintendent of Police (Jodhpur Rural) Rajan Dushyant confirmed Nawab Ali's elder daughter, 4-year-old Rizwan was found dead with her throat slit at his residence on Friday morning. A dog squad and forensics team were called in for investigation.

As per the police, Qureshi has confessed to the crime. Jodhpur police quoted the accused as saying during an interrogation, "I am a Namazi and I love my child more than my own life. I offered my daughter as a sacrifice”.

The police said Qureshi had brought his daughter back from her grandmother’s place on Thursday. He fed her with sweets and fruits from the market before taking her home. The family, including Qureshi, his wife and two daughters had slept together on the roof of their house on Thursday night. Late that night, while the rest of the family was fast asleep, he woke the victim and took her to the balcony.

As per the accused's statement to the police, he alleged that “Satan came over him” – making him slit his daughter’s throat.

His wife Shabana stepped out around 3 am to find her daughter’s bloodied body in the balcony. The couple took the child to the government hospital, where she was pronounced dead on arrival.

A case of murder was initially registered against unknown people after Shabana filed a complaint. A team of forensic experts summoned from Jodhpur collected blood and other pieces of evidence from the crime scene. Police began suspecting the father’s involvement after questioning family members about the incident. Qureshi came under suspicion as the house was locked from inside.