PUDUKKIOTTAI: The 20-year-old mother of a five-month-old boy who was found dead in a plastic water barrel adjacent to her house in Puliyur in the early hours of Sunday was arrested on Monday for murdering him.
Police said the woman Lavanya was in emotional distress and often quarrelled with her husband. They suspect this may have driven her to commit the act. Lavanya initially claimed that unidentified people had entered her house, snatched her gold chain and abducted her baby.
After the infant was found dead in the water barrel hours later, Lavanya’s mother-in-law lodged a complaint with the Keeranur police. Based on interrogation, police arrested Lavanya. Police added that her husband K Manikandan (31), who works in Nagpur, did not show affection towards her and had a strong emotional bond with the baby.
Lavanya separated from Manikandan a few months into their marriage citing frequent arguments between them and moved in to her mother’s house in Puliyur. Lavanya has been remanded to the district jail under judicial custody. The infant, identified as Aadhiran, had also been undergoing treatment for recurring health issues, the police said.
Poorna Chandrika, a professor in the Department of Psychiatry of the Institute of Mental Health, Chennai, pointed to possible postnatal psychological distress having led the woman to commit the murder.
“In some cases, mothers may experience ‘baby blues’, which may resolve on its own, but depression when unaddressed before and after pregnancy can escalate into serious emotional disturbances that might even lead to harm,” she explained.