Delhi: Female infanticide grasps Capital

Delhi: The arrest of a father of twins on July 10 revealed the horrifying and heart-wrenching state of women in the country. 

According to police, Neeraj Solanki, a resident of Pooth Kalan, which is a village near Rohini Sector 20, had been absconding for over a month. He murdered his two daughters in cold blood, burying them inside a Sultanpuri crematorium near his residence. 

Solanki had allegedly forced his wife to get an ultrasonic done to determine the sex of the babies when they were inside the womb. 

Taking the mother to a doctor in Noida, Solanki paid the clinic a sum of Rs 1.7 lakh for sex determination, according to the police. 

When he found out about the sex of the babies, he and his family tried forcing the wife to go through an abortion to eliminate the two foetuses. Consequently, she fled to her parents’ house in Rohtak, Haryana, where she stayed for six months until delivery. Solanki had run away with the children soon after their delivery when the mother was being discharged.

According to the police, the twins were only three days old and were starved before being buried in the crematorium. Solanki was arrested from Sampla in Rohtak on July 9. 

Accordingly, the Delhi University graduate had informed his wife and family that he would be following her to Rohtak. However, en route, he went to Pooth Kalan. 

The entire village of Pooth Kalan belongs to the Solanki clan from Haryana, and a significant majority of the residents there belong to the said state. 

The neighbours of the accused had much to say about the issue. According to some of them, Solanki was fairly sociable and one of the more educated residents in the village. On the other hand, others said that he had showcased signs of unwarranted patriarchal beliefs and consistent harassment of his wife.

“He would keep criticising his wife in public for the most insignificant of matters, sometimes threatening to hit her. Sometimes, he would come out of his house, fighting with his wife. I overheard a few of their fights as well and it was always Neeraj raising his voice with the fights being all about how she cooks and how she cleans,” said a resident. 

Raj Kishore Solanki, another resident, highlighted that he was just a bit arrogant for being the most educated among the people in his locality. 

“He thought that he had done something unachievable by becoming a Delhi University graduate, and it was this arrogance that became a part of his daily routine. He would barely ever talk to us, thinking us of being lowly for his standards,” he said. 

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The two moved to this locality only a couple of months ago, and the relationship appeared to be rocky, the neighbours said.  

“Every other day noises would come from their house and it was always Neeraj who was shouting, screaming on top of his voice,” said another resident wanting to remain anonymous. 

“He would try to overpower her at all times. She never had a problem with having a girl child but he would always make a face when even a reference would be made towards them having their first child as a girl. However, in all certainty, it was the fact that both of the children were girls which tipped him over,” said Shanti Devi, a neighbour. 

After he kidnapped the two children, the accused’s family started giving excuses to Pooja, who had started asking about her children. 

Finally, they disclosed that they had died due to a disease. It was far from the truth as Pooja’s brother, Jugnu, informed the police of Solanki having killed the two girls. 

The two had been married since 2022 and were having difficulty in conceiving a child. However, they finally opted for in vitro fertilisation (IVF). It was found out that the children were both girls, whereupon the Solanki family tricked her into opting for a sex determination programme in the guise of regular surgery. After finding out about the twins, the entire family including Neeraj, asks Pooja to get the abortion done. 

According to the police, Solanki was seen along with his father, Vijender, burying the babies, while his sister, Monika, a resident of Najafgarh, was also seen with them.