Man reportedly chokes six-month-old daughter to death in Charsadda

CHARSADDA: A man reportedly choked his six-month-old daughter to death over her wailing.

According to the police, the incident took place in Serai Kalay area of Charsadda where Syed Ahmed Shah held his daughter by her neck, irritated by the sound of her wailing. When the baby’s mother went to free the six-month-old’s neck from her father’s grip, he pushed her aside, said the police.

The medical report also showed torture on the baby. However, the baby’s mother filed a case, getting the accused arrested.

Although Shah has yet to explain his reason behind the brutal act, studies suggest the sound of a baby crying activates primitive parts of the brain that can trigger involved in fight-or-flight responses.

Katie Young of University of Oxford used a very fast scanning technique, called magnetoencephalography, and found out an early burst of activity in the brain in response to the sound of a baby cry, which was followed by an intense reaction after about 100 milliseconds, reported The Guardian.

The researchers also investigated how a baby's cry might subconsciously affect a person's behaviour. The parts that affect the person’s behaviour are among the brain's most primitive ones and are important in controlling behaviours such as the fight-or-flight response and other responses that keep people alive in dangerous situations.