Bombay High Court denies bail to man accused of killing granddaughter

The Bombay High Court has denied bail to Gopinath Janku Pradhan, an elderly man accused of drowning his one-month-old granddaughter in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district. The court observed that the crime was allegedly motivated by a family preference for male children, as the infant was the second daughter born to Pradhan’s son and daughter-in-law.

Justice M. M. Nerlikar of the Nagpur Bench remarked that it is “deeply unfortunate that, even after 80 years of independence, people in our country still prefer a male child.” The court noted that the family allegedly attempted to conceal the crime by claiming an animal had taken the infant and by conducting a hurried burial.

Following a tip from a suspicious local resident, police exhumed the child’s body. A post-mortem examination confirmed the cause of death was asphyxia due to drowning. While Pradhan claimed innocence and noted that the child’s mother had been granted bail, the court rejected his plea due to the nature of the crime and the conduct of the accused.