ERODE: The district police are conducting an intensive investigation into the death of a 28-year-old mother and her 1.5-year-old baby at Vellode in Erode district on Friday.
The deceased were identified as K Amaravathi and her son Adhiran, of Gandhi Nagar. Police said Amaravathi's husband, Kavinkumar, works in a private company in Perundurai. The two got married five years ago. On Thursday, Kavinkumar went to work as usual, while Amaravati and Adhiran were at home.
That night, around 11.15 pm, Kavinkumar returned home after work. The wife and infant were asleep at the time, and the baby was allegedly in the cradle, police said. Then, at 3.30 am on Friday, Kavinkumar woke up to drink water, and he found that his wife had died by suicide in the kitchen. However, he rescued and took her to a private hospital in Erode for treatment. The doctors at the hospital said that she was already dead, police added.
Subsequently, he remembered about the baby sleeping in the cradle at home and informed neighbours. When they went inside the home, the baby was lying unconscious in the cradle. They rushed the child to the same private hospital for treatment, but doctors said that the baby had already died, police further said.
Both bodies were subsequently taken to the Government Medical College Hospital in Perundurai for postmortem. Vellode police launched an investigation into the incident. Amidst this, Amaravathi's family members and relatives refused to receive the bodies on Friday evening, demanding an investigation into Kavinkumar's role. After police assured them to take appropriate action, they dispersed. Police plan to hand over the bodies to relatives on Saturday.
D Kannan, Inspector of Vellode police station, said, "The cause of deaths will be known only after a full investigation and autopsy report. It is still not clear whether she murdered the child."
A Sujatha, SP of Erode, said, "Kavinkumar is being questioned at the moment."
(To overcome suicidal thoughts, contact the State helpline 104 or the Sneha suicide prevention helpline 044- 24640050)