VIRUDHUNAGAR: A three-year-old girl was allegedly beaten to death by her mother’s partner at Thiruthangal near Sivakasi in Virudhunagar district on Sunday. The victim, D Vishnu Priya, was the daughter of Durai Pandi and D Swathi (22) of Chinnallapatti village near Sattur, police said.
According to the police, Swathi had been in a relationship with her co-worker, K Vigneshwaran (27), at a fireworks manufacturing unit. Following a dispute with her husband four months ago, she had been living with her daughter and Vigneshwaran in Sattur for the past three months. The trio shifted to Sivakasi last month.
Police said Vigneshwaran had allegedly been quarrelling with Swathi and assaulting the child over the past month, claiming that Vishnu Priya was an obstacle to their relationship.
On Saturday night, another quarrel broke out before the family went to sleep. In the early hours of Sunday, the child, who was crying in pain from her injuries, was allegedly assaulted again by Vigneshwaran, after which she lost consciousness.
Police said the accused allegedly locked the house and briefly prevented Swathi from taking the child to hospital. He later allowed her to take the girl to a nearby private hospital, where doctors advised that she be shifted to the Government Hospital. However, Vishnu Priya died on the way.
The body was sent to the Virudhunagar Government Medical College Hospital for postmortem. Sivakasi East police registered a case and arrested Vigneshwaran.