Abandoned 10-Month-Old Leads Cops To Mom's Body Stored In Cupboard; Father Arrested For Murder

A 10-month-old baby in India who was found abandoned has led the cops to the discovery of a brutal murder. An investigation that stemmed from identifying the boy led the police to the body of the child's mother and the arrest of his father, authorities said.

The unidentified infant from the Indian state of Gujarat was found abandoned near a cattle shed on Oct. 8. The child was admitted to a hospital and police started an investigation to identify his parents, The Indian Express reported.

Two days later, the infant's father, 30-year-old Sachin Dixit, was arrested from the neighboring state of Rajasthan. Upon questioning, Dixit admitted that he abandoned his son after strangling to death his live-in partner and the child's mother Mehndi Pethani. The police then went to Pethani's address and found her body stored in a bag in her kitchen cupboard. Dixit has been arrested on charges of murder and for abandoning the infant, police said.

An investigation revealed that Dixit, a native of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, had a wife and child there. After he came to work in Gujarat, he entered a live-in relationship with Pethani in 2019 and the couple had a son in their relationship, police said.

Dixit reportedly fought with Pethani on Oct. 8 after he told her that he was going back to his wife and family. In a fit of rage, he murdered Pethani and abandoned their child while fleeing to his native, police said.

After Dixit's arrest, the infant was left to the custody of the child welfare services. Dixit was produced in the court Monday morning after forensic experts collected his blood sample for DNA matching to establish parenthood, MK Rana, a senior investigating officer said, Outlook India reported.

In July, a 4-year-old boy found wandering the streets of Illinois led police to the dead body of the child's mother. The police who responded to a report of a child wandering near Lawrence Avenue and North Aldine Street determined that the child lived nearby. When the detectives searched the child's house which was few blocks away, they found the boy's 3-year-old sibling and the body of his mother. After an initial investigation, the police described the death was caused by a"domestic-related incident."