Bhubaneswar, July 22: A 26-year-old man was today arrested for killing his two-month-old daughter following a family feud at Padanapada village on outskirts of the city.

The infant was playing on the lap of her grandmother at their home this morning. All of a sudden, the child's father, Biswa Pratap Bhoi, snatched her, banged her head on the ground and killed her.

In March, Biswa Pratap had married the woman he was accused of rape. Biswa Pratap was in a relationship with the woman but had refused to marry her even after she had got pregnant.

When the woman had lodged a police complaint in March, the police had arrested Biswa Pratap on charges of rape.

"However, later they came to a mutual understanding and the rape complaint was withdrawn, following which we were forced to release Biswa Pratap. The baby was born 10 days after their marriage," said an officer of Balipatna police station.

Biswa Pratap runs a cycle repairing store in the area.

However, the police said that the couple used to suspect each other's character and regularly quarrelled over it.

"Biswa Pratap was not ready to accept the child as he believed that he had not fathered her. Continuous tension between the couple led the woman to shift to her parents' house earlier this month," the police official said.

The woman today told the police that Biswa Pratap used to repeatedly threaten her to kill the child. "This morning, he took away my daughter from my mother-in-law's lap and banged her head on the floor, killing her instantly," she said.

Biswa Pratap confessed to the police that he was not happy with the marriage. But, he did not admit of killing the child. "My wife told me that he was in relationship with another man and that had upset me. Today, I was holding the child in my arms when my wife begun to abuse me. The child suddenly slipped out of my hands and fell on the ground," the accused said.

Inspector in-charge of Balipatna police station Atanu Kumar Rout said that the incident was a fall-out of frequent quarrels between the couple.

"Biswa Pratap was arrested on the basis of a complaint filed by his father, who was also present in the house during the incident," said Rout.

His father Gagan demanded severe punishment for his son. "We have been telling him to change his behaviour after the police case. He should be given life sentence," said Gagan.