KOCHI: The Angamaly police have taken a nomadic couple into custody after the body of their three-month-old baby was dug up from a compound near the Angamaly Circle Inspector’s office. Sudha, 27, hailing from Salem and Manikandan, 32, who claims to be from Palakkad, are those arrested, police said. Sudha approached the police around 2 pm claiming her husband had killed their baby and later buried it, officers said. The police personnel had a hard time trying to rein in the woman who created a ruckus under the influence of alcohol.
Based on this, Manikandan, who is fluent in both Tamil and Malayalam, was rounded up. However, the couple, who were in an inebriated condition, kept changing their statements.“The woman told us the baby had choked on breast milk while she was suckling him on Saturday night. The husband then buried the baby after realising it had died,” said a police officer. “We are waiting for a forensic surgeon to carry out the autopsy to establish the actual cause of the infant’s death,” he said.
Ernakulam Rural SP Rahul R Nair visited the spot after the police came to know of the incident. “ Since the woman is drunk, we are giving her some time so that the alcohol’s influence will wear off. It is too early to make assumptions,” he told reporters. An FIR for unnatural death has been registered by the police. “The inquest was done under the supervision of the Revenue Divisional Officer. The RDO had supervised the inquest as the body had been buried. Autopsy will be performed only on Monday,” said an officer.