A three-year-old girl died under mysterious circumstances on Tuesday evening in East Bengaluru’s D.J. Halli police station limits.
Police have identified the deceased girl as Varsha, daughter of Priya and Manjunath. Police said neighbours and the family members charged that the mother, Priya, had beaten her to death.
“The girl had fallen and sustained a fracture. She was also undergoing treatment for the same at a small Ayurvedic centre. The parents belong to a very poor background and work as mason,” said an investigating officer.
He said, “The body of the child had an injury caused by the fracture, bed-sores, and boils on the skin. The blood sample has been sent to the lab and the body sent for post mortem. The reason for the death will be known only after the tests.”
Meanwhile, doctors suspect the child might have died due to improper medical treatment, added the police. D.J. Halli police have registered a case of unnatural death under section 174 of CrPC.
Another police officer said the neighbours alleged that the mother used to beat them quite often. The incident was reported to the police by the mother-in-law of Priya who allegedly had a verbal duel with her, on Tuesday evening. The police are probing all angles.
Police took custody of Priya and husband Manjunath on Wednesday after last rites were conducted and are interrogating them.
Neighbours alleged that Priya was beating Varsha as she was a girl child and they suspect she had beaten her to death.
Yashodamma, an aunt of Priya, alleged that the couple wanted a boy child and they were not happy after Varsha was born. She regularly harassed her and put hot iron box on her. She use to lock her inside the house before going to sell the vegetables. A couple of times, neighbours have complained about this to the police and police had also warned her. On Tuesday, she put a cloth on her mouth, so that she didn’t cry out, and beaten her to death. Priya is three months pregnant now, even now she says if she gets a girl child again, she will kill her too. She is responsible for her death, she said.
