Thiruvananthapuram: In a shocking incident, a 40-day-old baby girl died after being hurled into a river by her father at Pachalloor in Thiruvallam, hours after the child's naming ceremony.

The baby's body was recovered in the wee hours of Friday.

The child's father Unnikrishnan (25), an electrician, has been arrested, the police said.

The baby's naming ceremony was held on Thursday morning.

According to the police, Unnikrishnan the girl baby over some issues with the mother. The child's mother, a traffic warden, has a daughter from another marriage.

The woman's relatives said the accused had insisted on taking the child to his mother by evening.

When the man returned without the child after some time, the mother lodged a police complaint.

At first Unnikrishnan said the child was missing. Later, when the police involved in the incident, he said he left the child on a side of a highway.

However, after some people saw the accused near a river, police conducted a search and recovered the baby's body early this morning.