A man has been arrested in northern India after slashing his pregnant wife's stomach with a sickle, leaving her critically ill and causing the death of their unborn baby boy, police and her relatives said.
The woman was in intensive care in a hospital in the capital, New Delhi, said police in Budaun, Uttar Pradesh state, following Saturday's attack.
Her brother said the attack took place because the husband wanted to know the baby's gender. The couple already had five daughters.
"He attacked her with a sickle and ripped her stomach saying that he wanted to check the gender of the unborn child," the woman's brother, Golu Singh, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation.
Police said the baby was stillborn late on Sunday and a man had been remanded in custody.
Daughters are often seen as a burden in India, with families having to pay dowries when they marry, while sons are prized as breadwinners who inherit property and continue the family name.
Abortions of female fetuses have been banned in India, where the preference for boys has led to a dwindling number of girls.
According to a government survey released in July, India's gender ratio, or the number of females per 1,000 males, was 896 between 2015 and 2017, down from 898 in 2014-2016 and 900 in 2013-2015.
Indian law bans doctors and health workers from sharing an unborn child's sex with the parents, or carrying out tests to determine the child's gender, and only registered medical practitioners are allowed to perform abortions.
Dharavi slum in Mumbai
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session. (Photo: Hertfordshire Police /Handout via REUTERS)
Man pleads not guilty to murder of BBC presenter's family
A 26-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to charges of murdering the wife and two daughters of BBC sports commentator John Hunt in a crossbow and knife attack.
Kyle Clifford, who also faces charges of rape, appeared via video link at Cambridge Crown Court on Thursday.
Clifford, arrested in July after a manhunt, is charged with three counts of murder, one count each of rape and false imprisonment, and two counts of possessing offensive weapons – a 10-inch knife and a crossbow.
During the hearing, Clifford denied all the charges except for the rape charge, which was added to the indictment at the session.
He is expected to enter a plea for that charge at a later date.
The victims were Carol Hunt, 61, wife of horseracing commentator John Hunt, and their daughters Louise, 25, and Hannah, 28.
An earlier hearing revealed that Louise had been found tied up and that both she and her sister had been shot with a crossbow, while their mother had been stabbed with a knife.
The fatal attack occurred at the family’s home in Bushey, a commuter town near Watford, northwest of London.
(With inputs from AFP)