A grandmother allegedly drowned her grandson hours after his birth and buried him in the backyard of a Southwest Bakersfield home to “prevent family shame,” according to court documents obtained by Bakersfield television station KERO.
Beant Kaur Dhillon, 43, pleaded not guilty to all charges during a court appearance on Thursday afternoon, the station reported. She is scheduled to be back in court on March 13.
According to court documents, on November 12, 2018, Beant Kaur Dhillon and 23-year-old Bakhshinderpal Singh Mann allegedly found Dhillon’s 15-year-old daughter — and Mann’s cousin — had given birth to a boy in the bathroom of their family home, located in the 5200 block of Shining Crag Avenue.
Dhillon allegedly admitted to police that she then drowned the baby to “prevent family shame.”
Mann and Dhillon allegedly worked together to dig a hole in the backyard of the home, according to the legal documents. They then allegedly placed the baby into the hole, placed salt in the hole, and buried the baby.
Court documents say 47-year-old Jagsir Singh , the father of the 15-year-old, was summoned back to the residence after his wife allegedly killed the baby and placed him in a garbage bag. Singh allegedly allowed the baby to be buried in the yard in order to hide the baby and the pregnancy, then made no attempt to inform police of the birth or death.
Investigators have yet to release information on the father of the child.
According to court documents, Dhillon neglected to seek medical treatment for her daughter.
She was arrested and charged with felony first degree murder, felony assault of a child with force likely to cause great bodily injury, resulting in death, and felony child abuse, KERO reported. Singh was also arrested and charged with felony accessory to murder and felony child abuse.
According to the Kern County Central Receiving facility, Singh posted bail and was released Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Mann is wanted for his involvement in the homicide. Police say he has an outstanding arrest warrant for conspiracy and acting as an accessory to a felony after the fact.
According to the Kern County District Attorney’s Office, Mann has been charged with felony accessory to murder.
Mann removed a U.S. government applied GPS device and has yet to be contacted, according to the court documents.
