The body of a 15-day-old baby girl was found wrapped in a towel and buried in the Thenpennaiar Riverbed in Tirukovilur near here on Tuesday. Police suspect it may be a case of female infanticide. The police have detained the infant’s father D. Varadarajan, for his alleged involvement in the crime.
According to police, the couple, Varadarajan of Vadamaruthur and K. Soundarya, 21, of Sundaresapuram, had been married for 15 months. Soundarya gave birth to a baby girl at Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (Jipmer) in Puducherry on October 20.
Police said that Varadarajan was depressed following the birth of the baby girl. The baby was sleeping next to Soundarya in their house on Monday night when the accused reportedly took away the baby and committed the crime.
At around 1 a.m., Soundarya woke up and found the baby missing. She raised an alarm and locals launched a search, ending in the discovery of the body buried in the riverbed. Preliminary investigations by the police revealed that Soundarya was not involved.
Police said the body of the infant will be exhumed in the presence of Revenue officials to ascertain the cause of death. Further investigations are on.
