Indian man slits pregnant wife's belly to check baby's gender

In a gruesome crime reported in Uttar Pradesh, India, an inebriated husband allegedly slashed his four-month pregnant wife's belly with a sickle to find out if she was carrying a boy, reported the Times of India.

According to initial police reports, the 35-year old woman, identified as Anita Devi, and the unborn child had survived the vicious assault. The two underwent a crucial surgery at Delhi's Safdarjunfg Hospital.

However, the police superintendent later reported that the baby was stillborn late on Sunday, whereas Devi was in intensive care. The husband has been remanded in custody.

Pannalal, 43, attacked his wife in their home on a Saturday evening. He was convinced by a local priest that his wife was carrying a girl - sixth in a row. He was said to have pressured his wife to abort the baby, but she refused.

Devi was initially taken to a district hospital in Bareilly where her condition worsened due to excessive bleeding and severe damage to her insides. She was then shifted to a private hospital, only to be refused admission for not being able to pay four million rupees upfront for treatment.

“My brother-in-law often used to beat my sister for giving birth to five daughters. Our parents had intervened on several occasions. But no one imagined that he would take such a cruel step,” Devi’s brother Ravi Kumar Singh told the news outlet.