TIRUVANNAMALAI: The police have booked a case against four persons, including a couple, following the mysterious death of their newborn baby delivered at a government medical college hospital in Tiruvannamalai. It is presumed to be a case of female infanticide but the investigators are unable to find any evidence, following which a thorough probe is being carried out.
R Vimala, a resident of Kilpalur, Kalasappakkam, gave birth to a female baby at the Govt Tiruvannamalai Medical College Hospital on April 17. Later, the woman and her husband Raja had quietly slipped out of the hospital without informing the doctors attending to her.
Based on an alert doubting that it could be a case of infanticide, District Collector K S Kandasamy directed the police to hold inquiries on the matter.
Tiruvannamalai police picked up Vimala's husband Raja and interrogated him while Vimala, who had already gone to her mother's place in Singarapet, Krishnagiri, was quizzed there by the local police.
They had stated that since the baby died on the same of day of delivery, they took it to their house and cremated.
The inquiries also revealed that Vimala and Raja had got two girl children, and she had aborted twice earlier before giving birth to the fifth one.
The investigators presume that the couple could have taken the baby to Singarapet where it could have been killed, and the parents had cremated the body cleverly to wipe out any evidence.
It could be a case of infanticide but the police are left with no evidence since the couple cremated the baby.
“It seems a case of female infanticide but there is no evidence to prove it as the baby was cremated,” an officer involved in the probe told Express.
The Singarapet police registered a case under section 176 (omission to give notice of information to public servant by person legally bound to it) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and are holding further probe.
Apart from Vimala and Raja, the woman's grandfather and grandmother were also booked by the police.
Tiruvannamalai District Collector directed the local police to hand over Raja to the Singarapet police station so that interrogations could be held easily.