Following an order of the Child Welfare Committee, the one-year-old son of Uthra, who died in a snakebite incident at her house at Anchal in the district, was handed over to her parents on Tuesday.
The child was living with his paternal grandparents after the demise of his mother. Though the order was issued on Monday, the family of Sooraj, Uthra’s husband and first accused in the murder case, was not willing to hand over the child.
They reportedly shifted the child to a relative’s house, forcing the police to intervene. The child was later brought to Uthra’s house at Anchal accompanied by her father-in-law and police officers.
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Post-mortem of snake
Meanwhile, a post-mortem examination on the snake that bit Uthra was conducted in the presence of officials from the Animal Husbandry, Forest and Police Departments and forensic experts. “It was mainly for cross-checking certain facts, including whether it was the same snake that bit Uthra and if it was venomous. Since the carcass was buried some 20 days ago, our initial plan was to extract and check the DNA. But its outer skin was found intact, including its scales, fangs and hood, making it easy to infer the reptile was a cobra. At present everything matches with the investigation report, but we have collected enough samples and preserved the carcass for any further investigation,” said Jacob Alexander, senior zoo veterinary surgeon, who was part of the team that conducted the post-mortem examination.
According to the police, since the crime has no witnesses, scientific and circumstantial evidence are very crucial in the case.
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