Madurai
Madurai district police on Sunday arrested Dhavamani and his mother Pandiammal on the charge of murdering his four-day-old female infant.
The police on Saturday exhumed the body that was stealthily buried along the Vaigai at Sholavandan on Thursday.
After local people raised suspicion over the death of the infant, the fourth girl child for Dhavamani and his wife Chithra, the Village Administrative Officer Samayan lodged a complaint. Sholavandan police were investigating the case.
Though initially the parents and family members pleaded innocence, after the post-mortem, Dhavamani father spilled the beans during the police enquiry.
“We arrested him and his mother. They had administered a herbal juice (usually used for female infanticide) and smothered the infant to death,” Additional Superintendent of Police (Crime Against Women and Children), S. Vanitha, said.
When the infant’s mother was away, both the accused, who were irked over the birth of fourth girl child in the family, killed her. “The infant’s mother had no role,” he added.
The Sholavandan police altered the charges from suspicious death to murder, causing disappearance of evidence and for secretly burying the body.
“This is the second case of female infanticide in the district in three months. Though awareness is being created against female infanticide, such incidents are recurring,” rued B. Pandiarajan, member, District Child Welfare Committee.
Only in March, three persons, including the grandfather, were arrested in Chekkanoorani in a similar case.
