india

Updated: Oct 19, 2019 18:51 IST

A court in Ratlam, Madhya Pradesh, has sentenced a couple to ten years of rigorous imprisonment for throwing a girl child, who was born before their marriage, into a garbage heap which led to her death.

Ratlam Childline counsellor Sunita Devda, who was a complainant in the case said, “This is the first-of-its-kind case in Madhya Pradesh when a couple was punished for abandoning a child without thinking of the consequences of their actions. This case will set a new precedent for those who think that abandoning a child is the only solution to get rid of an unwanted baby.”

Public prosecutor KK Chauhan said, “Minal Jatiya, 21, who was in a live-in relationship with Chetan Dulichand, 22, gave birth to a girl child on January 15, 2017. Minal didn’t want the child so she abandoned the child with the help of her friend Afsana Khan. On January 16, 2017, stray dogs killed and ate the body parts of the child. When some local residents saw the body they informed the police.”

In the investigation, police found that it was the baby of Minal and Chetan. The police arrested Afsana and she confessed to the crime.

The couple, Minal Jatiya and Chetan Dulichand got married after a case was registered against them two years ago under Section 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of IPC on the basis of evidence found against them in January 2017.

“The couple proved to be guilty on the basis of a DNA report and a medical report,” Chauhan said.