Despite the obvious cultural differences between India and other countries in the west, the dynamics are depressingly the same. The father murders the child to punish the mother for leaving him. It's a way (as he sees it) to regain control over her and the "situation."
Dad is identified as NAGARAJ NINGAPPA.
http://www.deccanherald.com/content/399555/man-strangles-daughter-attempts-suicide.html
Man strangles daughter, attempts suicide
Bangalore, April 15, 2014, DHNS:
A seven-year-old girl, who had gone missing from her Pantharapalya home in Byatarayanapura, was found murdered near Hagaribommanahalli in Bellary district.
The victim, identified as Deepika, was allegedly choked to death by her father Nagaraj Ningappa. The father later attempted suicide by consuming sleeping pills, police said.
Nagaraj Ningappa, a small-time businessman, met Sumithra a few years ago. Sumithra, mother of a boy, had parted ways with her husband. Sumithra and Nagaraj were in a live-in relationship, out of which Deepika was born, police said. Of late, the relationship between the couple had strained.
Recently, Nagaraj settled down in his hometown, Hagaribommanahalli, police added.Sumithra had lodged a complaint with the Byatarayanapura police on April 9, saying Nagaraj took away Deepika in car after an argument with her.
Nagaraj allegedly strangled Deepika near Hagaribommanahalli, and later consumed sleeping tablets. Some local residents shifted him to a local hospital.
However, he fled the hospital after local media aired the news of Deepika’s murder. The local police contacted their Byatarayanapura counterpart and updated them about Deepika’s murder, added the police.