AJMER: A mother is meant to protect, nurture, and fight the world for her child. Yet, in a chilling crime that has left Ajmer shaken, a woman betrayed that very bond and killed her 3-year-old daughter by throwing her into the dark waters of Ana Sagar Lake. Police confirmed the tragedy on Wednesday, and the details reveal a story as heartbreaking as it is horrifying.

The woman, Anjali Singh, had separated from her husband in Varanasi and begun living with another man. Her partner, Aklesh Gupta, also from Varanasi, had moved to Ajmer to work in a restaurant. Anjali had chosen to leave her marriage and live with him, hoping for stability, but her new life carried its own turbulence.

Police arrested Anjali within hours of the incident. At first, she attempted to mislead officers with fabricated statements. But her inconsistencies, combined with CCTV footage from the area, exposed her story and unveiled the shocking truth.

Superintendent of Police Vandita Rana narrated how the investigation unfolded. She explained that Head Constable Govind Sharma from Christian Ganj police station was on routine patrol around 4 AM when he noticed a man and a woman wandering near Ana Sagar Lake. “He stopped and inquired about them, to which the man said he was Aklesh Gupta from Varanasi and was working in a restaurant in Ajmer and residing in Data Nagar. The woman said her name was Anjali Singh and was now living with Aklesh. The woman said that at 10pm Tuesday night, she went out with her daughter but she lost her somewhere and now they were searching for her,” SP Rana said.

What began as a simple inquiry soon turned into a desperate search for the missing child. The constable alerted the police station, and teams were dispatched to look for the girl. But by morning, horror struck. The small body of a child was found floating lifeless in the waters near the old Choupati. She was rushed to JLN Hospital, but it was already too late.

CCTV footage became the crucial piece of evidence. It showed Anjali walking with her daughter from 10:39 PM to 1:27 AM, sometimes holding the child’s hand, at times carrying her in her arms. That fragile bond of dependence between a toddler and her mother could be seen on screen — until it vanished. At 1:37 AM, Anjali was seen talking on her mobile phone, and there was no girl with her. The contradiction between her statement and the footage was glaring, and the police intensified their questioning.

Eventually, the mother herself broke down. She confessed that she had once been married to Raju Singh in Varanasi. But after he failed to provide financial support, she left him. Living under financial strain and emotional turmoil, she admitted that depression overtook her judgment. “She accepted her crime and we arrested her,” SP Rana said grimly.

According to her confession, Anjali decided to take her daughter Kavya out for a late-night walk around Ana Sagar Lake on Tuesday. For hours, she walked with the child — perhaps torn between the instinct to care and the impulse to harm. Finally, she made the unimaginable choice: to end her daughter’s life by throwing her into the lake.

Her partner Aklesh, who had been living with her in Ajmer, allegedly despised the child. Investigators revealed that he constantly hurled verbal abuse and resented the presence of a daughter from Anjali’s previous marriage. This emotional pressure, combined with her financial struggles, may have driven her to take the extreme step.

Police officers described how she even tried to avoid help. “A woman was walking on the chaupati late at night. When a police team patrolling in the area enquired, she said her daughter had gone missing and she was searching for her. She also denied help from the police in searching the child,” they said.

Another officer reflected on the possible motive: “The continuous verbal abuse may have pushed Anjali to take the extreme step of murdering her daughter.”

The next morning, the truth surfaced along with the child’s body. A mother, who should have been the shield against her child’s suffering, had instead chosen to become the very cause of it. Anjali, who worked as a hotel receptionist in Ajmer, is now behind bars. A murder case has been registered, and the police are probing whether Aklesh had any direct role in the incident. For now, evidence points to Anjali acting alone.

This case has not just shocked Ajmer but has also raised a haunting question — how can a mother, whose love is often described as unconditional, silence her child forever in such a cruel manner?