The chief judicial magistrate court of Berhampore in Murshidabad district has remanded Rintu Sheikh, 29, and his wife Belura Khatun, 25, in police custody for five days for allegedly killing their three-month-old daughter on Sunday.

A police officer said that residents alleged that the duo allegedly killed the infant as she was a girl. The couple has two other children, who are also girls.

According to the police, the duo were arrested on Sunday following a complaint by Rintu’s father Dobir Sheikh, 60, who alleged that his son, in an inebriated condition, had dashed the three-month-old daughter on the floor.

Sources in the police said this was not the first time but in the past also Rintu and his wife had tried to kill and sell their daughters.

“Investigation revealed that Rintu tried to sell his eldest daughter Sohana, now aged four, to a woman in Delhi but the local people got wind of it and stopped it,” a police officer said.

According to the police, Rintu and his wife also tried to kill their daughter Sumona, now aged two-and-a-half years. The couple had allegedly hit her on the head but she survived.

In his complaint with the police, Dobir claimed that Rintu had been arrogant since he was a child.

“Often he used to beat his wife and his two elder daughters. A month ago, he broke Sohana’s hand and Rintu's brother-in-law took away the children from him,” Dobir said.

According to sources in the family, Rintu, who works as a daily wage labourer in Kerala and earns Rs 12,000 a month, returned home over a month ago. Ever since, he had been unhappy with the birth of his third daughter Khadija.

“He used to abuse his wife continuously for giving birth to only daughters,” a family member said.

“On Sunday afternoon he came home drunk and started abusing me. When I protested, he went inside the room and found his three-month-old daughter. In a fit of temper, he dashed her on the floor. The child died instantly. I immediately informed the police,” Dobir said.