SANGHAR, Oct 23: In a gruesome act, a man throttled his newborn girl and disfigured the face and body of his young wife he suspected had an extramarital affair near here on Tuesday.

Maroo Bheel reportedly took his wife, Lali Bheel, 25, to the nearby fields on Monday night in Ashraf Jat village, some 10 kilometres from here and within the remit of the Mangli police station, cut off parts of her nose, lips and chest and later throttled the 15-day-old daughter who was sleeping at home.

The woman was shifted to the civil hospital and the infant was buried near Tando Mitha Khan after a post-mortem examination.

Lali told the media at the hospital that her husband had suspected that she had illicit relations and her daughter was an illegitimate child.

Maroo’s brother Changoo Bheel told reporters that the incident took place in the family’s absence, adding that his brother had shifted to the village from Shahdadpur a few days back.

The suspect fled after committing the crime and the police detained his brother.

No FIR of the incident was, however, registered till late in the evening.

According to a report released by the Aurat Foundation on Monday, of 4,585 cases of violence against women reported in the country during the first half of this year, about 1,027 incidents — nearly 22 per cent of the total number of cases — happened in Sindh.