Man held for dumping 3-year-old daughter's body in German canal

Police in western Germany have arrested a man who dumped his three-year-old daughter's body in a canal after she died while being confined in a basement as a punishment, reported dpa.

According to an official statement, the 40-year-old man reported to police in the Ruhr region town of Dinslaken on Friday and said he had weighted and sunk the girl's body after he found her dead.

Investigators determined that the man had locked his daughter in the basement of an apartment building for a few days as a punishment.

He is said to have provided her with food and drink and to have looked in on her from time to time. However, on October 1, he allegedly found the girl dead and dropped her body in the Rhein-Herne Canal that evening or night.

A post-mortem examination revealed that the child died while vomiting food and did not have any injuries.

The man remains in custody on charges of dangerous bodily harm and deprivation of liberty resulting in death, the Duisburg police and public prosecutor's office said on Sunday.