A five-month-old child of an Indian couple based in Melbourne was found dead when they landed in the city in the early hours of Thursday.
Sakthi Murugan, 32, and Deepa, 27, are software professionals. Accompanied by their son, Hrithik, they were coming to visit their parents, who live at Vengaivasal near Tambaram. After flying into Kuala Lumpur, they took an AirAsia flight to Chennai.
On landing at 1 a.m., the couple, after collecting their checked-in baggage, were waiting for immigration clearance when they found that the child had turned blue and his body was motionless.
The panic-stricken couple sought the assistance of airport staff and a doctor was called in. The doctor declared the infant dead. The parents told the police that the baby was hale and hearty on the flight and had been fed just before landing. The airport security staff and police shifted the body to Chrompet Government Hospital for post-mortem.
“After conducting post-mortem, we have handed over the body to the parents. We have registered a case of unnatural death under Section 174 of CrPC. The cause of death wll be known only after receiving theviscera analysis report,” a police officer said.
Airline officials were not available for comment.
