ARIYALUR: A 20-year-old unmarried woman, V Lara from Kandiratheertham, allegedly murdered her premature baby inside the toilet of Ariyalur Government Medical College Hospital on Thursday, fearing social stigma, police said. Lara, who is currently receiving treatment at the hospital, had kept her pregnancy a secret from her family.
According to police, Lara became pregnant after a relationship with a youth from Ariyalur whom she met while working at a supermarket in Thirumanur. The man later went abroad for work. Lara’s family was unaware she was in the eighth month of pregnancy.
On Wednesday night, Lara and her mother visited her father, who was admitted to the hospital’s fourth floor. In the early hours of Thursday, Lara went to the ground-floor toilet, where she gave premature birth to a baby girl. Overcome with fear and shame, she killed the newborn by pushing it into the toilet basin immediately after delivery.
Hospital sanitation workers noticed Lara standing in the toilet with bloodstains and alerted authorities. Police recovered the baby’s body and sent it for an autopsy. During inquiries, Lara confessed to the murder, citing fear and shame as reasons. Police have registered a case.