TIRUPATHUR (TAMIL NADU): Two female siblings aged five and three died under mysterious circumstances at a village near Natrampalli in the district. Postmortem of the bodies has revealed the presence of poison in the stomach, raising doubts of female infanticide.
Five-year-old Jayasri, daughter of Suresh, of Ammanancoil in Natrampalli, was taken to the Tirupathur government hospital (GH) on Wednesday in an unconsciousness state. Upon examination, the doctors pronounced the child brought dead, sources said on Thursday.
Her father had told the doctors that she took ‘pongal’ in the morning and was playing along with her younger sister Dhanusri, 3, when she fainted.
Within a few hours, Dhanusri was taken to the hospital under the same conditions, leading to doubts on the claim of Suresh that both children had taken ‘pongal’ before fainting.
When the autopsy was performed on Thursday, the doctors were shocked to notice presence of poison in the stomach of the children.
“There were doubts on the death of the children, since both were female. Their father’s statement that both must have been affected by food poisoning could not be believed. The postmortem revealed presence of poison, organophosphorous, in the stomach,” an official told Express.
Investigators suspect it to be a case of female infanticide because Suresh’s wife Priya is pregnant.
“Fearing a third female child, the father could have wanted to get rid of both the female children,” another official stated.
Natrampalli police have registered a case under section 174 CrPC and are holding investigations to ascertain the truth behind the inhuman act.
When asked, Inspector Irudhayaraj said, “We have registered a case under section 174 of Cr PC. Postmortem reveals the presence of poison but we have to ascertain whether the children took poisoned food or they were fed with such food.”
The Inspector said the truth could be ascertained only after receiving the viscera report.