A man from Uttar Pradesh allegedly slit open her pregnant wife’s stomach in an attempt to find out the baby’s gender.

The spine-chilling incident took place in Uttar Pradesh’s Budaun district.

According to reports, the man was identified as Pannalal who cut his wife’s stomach with a sharp-edged weapon in the Nekpur locality under the Civil Lines police station area, left the woman with serious injuries, senior police official (City) Pravin Singh Chauhan said.

An FIR has been lodged against the man. He has been booked under section 307 (attempt to murder) and other sections of the IPC.

According to the family of the woman, Pannalal committed the crime after a priest told him that his wife was expecting another girl child, the sixth in a row, TOI reported.

The victim was rushed to a Bareilly hospital in a critical condition. According to the police, the woman was six to seven months pregnant.

On the other hand, Pannalal has denied intentionally hurting his wife, saying instead that it was an accident, BBC reports said.

He also told local media he threw the sickle at her but had no idea it would injure her so severely.

“I have five daughters, one of my sons is dead. I know that children are the gift of God. Now whatever is to happen, will happen.”

Meanwhile, the woman has given birth to a stillborn boy after being attacked by her husband.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Kashmir Monitor staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)