VILLUPURAM: The notorious practice of female infanticide is still prevalent in Villupuram. A daily wage labourer was arrested on Tuesday for burying his 18-day-old daughter alive. The incident created a flutter in the region.
D Varadarajan (29), a daily wage labourer, is a resident of Vadamaruthur village in Tirukoilur. He married Sowndra (22) last year. In October, she gave birth to a girl. Since the child’s birth, Varadarajan was reportedly upset, as he wanted a son. On Tuesday, Sowndra woke up to find her baby missing.
She enquired with her husband, but he refused to respond properly. Hearing Sowndra’s cries, the neighbours rushed there and started looking for the missing baby.
They found footsteps leading from the house to the river bank nearby. The trail led them to a spot where the ground had been dug out. They checked there and found the baby buried. Based on doubts raised by Sowndra, the police detained Varadarajan. He has confessed to killing the baby.