The Sun. — 1859-09-15 (London, England)

MORALITY.  The Bombay papers received by the last mail report a case of female infanticide, attended with circumstances of such peculiar atrocity that it becemeS our painful duty to give it a pla.ee in these columns. A woman named Muckty, a Marathi Hindoo, deposed before, a coroner's inquest that she was a widow cohabiting with a Purdesee name& Gungaram Chittoo. On the 29th July, on her way to a wool warehouse where she was daily employed, she stopped. at the house of Suckoo, a midwife, the door of which was opened to her by Gunnoo Narayan, a lad standing in the yerandah, and evidently stationed there to keep away all abnoxious intruders. Entering the house she observed, as well as the darkness of the room would . permit, a woman lying on a mat; and on the point, of beino• delivered, " Having obtained some water to drink the witness wished to proceed to her work, but was told by Suckoo to sit down and stay where she was. Whether through intimidation or a womanly love Of gossip she did as she was desired, and about three in the afternoon the Rukma,Suckoo theng at took up toa ram zfoe rm; aalne child. a sickT monster woman, having first deliberately cut off the left arm of the newborn babe at the shoulder-blade, severed- the head from thetrunk. This horrible crime was perpetrated in silence, which was only broken When Seckoo told the wretched mother 'f pot to cry out,'9 for she " appeared to be in great pain." The marks of blood on the mat were next removed by ashes being sprinkled over thern, and the remains of the murdered infant were placed in a basket and covered over with a" cloth. The door was then opened, and Gunnoo walked ;.n. ."Is it done ?" he asked. " Yes," replied Suckoo ; and she gave him the basket, which he carried away with him, merely remarking, " I'll take it to a room in my house which is empty." , This Gunnoo, it may be here stated, has no occupation, but lives on the wages of his sister's infamy. The witness further deposed that she was so frightened at what she had seen that she did 'not mention a word on the subject to anyone until the police officer went to her house. Govind Suttoo was next examined, and stated that Gunnoo Narayan lived' with him, and had desired him on the day' above named to prepare dinner for five or six persons. In the early part of the day Gunnoo drank freely, and became partially intoxicated, and a little after three came in from the street with a basket on his arm, covered with a blood-stained cloth. The guests soon after assembled. There were present the two women Suckoo and Muckty, Gunnoo, Dowluttia, an intimate friend, and Krishna Dunajee, the barber from whom the razor had been purchased. The dinner occupied two or three hours, for a good deal of liquor was drank, and finally Gunnoo became quarrelsome, and accused the witness of stealing some pots. A row ensued and the police interfered. On his way to the station-house Govind told the officer what he had seen, and the remains of the child were accordingly dug up in a room on the ground floor. A verdict of wilful murder was of course returned against Suckoo as the principal, and against Rukma and Gunnoo as " being feloniously present aiding and assisting." Strangely enough, nothing is said about the woman Muckty, who was also present both at the murder and at the subsequent debauch. The crime was clearly premedidated, and was perpetrated with a r.old-blooded determination that could only proceed from an utter disregard of human life. There is little doubt that all the persons present at the orgie were cognisant of the circumstances, but not one of them would ever have given notice to the police had it not been for the drunken trawl between Gunnoo and Govind. Truly a pleasant picture of civilisation, and not to be matched in the very worst purlieus of London. The mild Hindoo appears in his true colours, Capable of any atrocity, and steeled against the natural feelings of humanity.—Allen's Indian Mali.