Baby stillborn after Indian man 'slashes pregnant wife's stomach to check gender'

A man has been arrested in northern India after slashing his pregnant wife's stomach with a sickle, leaving her critically ill and causing the death of their unborn baby boy, police and her relatives alleged.

The woman was in intensive care in a hospital in the capital, New Delhi, said police in Budaun, Uttar Pradesh state, following Saturday's attack.

Her brother said the attack took place because the husband wanted to know the baby's gender. The couple already had five daughters.

"He attacked her with a sickle and ripped her stomach saying that he wanted to check the gender of the unborn child," the woman's brother, Golu Singh, claimed to Reuters.

Police said the baby was stillborn late on Sunday and a man had been remanded in custody.