Vyasarpadi police said that the man was upset that his third child, born on June 29, was female. He already has two daughters aged 4 and two-and-a-half.

According to the police, the arrested man, identified as Rajkumar (38), a daily wage labourer, had told his wife on July 7 that their newborn child had developed a medical complication due to which her intestine had burst. The infant was then taken to a government hospital where she was admitted. She died there on July 9. Her body was handed over to the parents after an autopsy.

However, the postmortem report said that the child's injury was caused by a sharp object.

Following this, the police conducted an inquiry and questioned Rajkumar who reportedly confessed to stabbing the child with scissors.

Rajkumar was arrested and remanded in judicial custody on Wednesday.