VELLORE: A day after a six-year-old boy was found dead at his grandmother’s house at Melpatti in the district, his paternal aunt was arrested on Monday night on charges of murdering him.
According to the Melpatti police, the 37-year-old accused, Revathy R, on Sunday night beat R Mugilan to death with a coconut frond after spotting him climbing the compound wall while returning home.
Revathy along with her son was residing at her mother Vijaya’s house on Acharya Street in Melpatti. As Mugilan’s parents were away in Tiruppur, he was also staying with Vijaya – his paternal grandmother -- and attending school in the village.
On information, the Melpatti police recovered Mugilan’s body the same night and sent it to the Government Vellore Medical College & Hospital in Adukkamparai for post-mortem examination.
Meanwhile, some of Mugilan’s relatives lodged a complaint with the Melpatti police alleging that the boy had been subjected to human sacrifice.
Inquiries, however, revealed no evidence of ritual killing in Mugilan’s death and identified Revathy as the accused. Revathy disliked Mugilan and used to beat him whenever she felt he was behaving mischievously or if a fight broke out between her son and the six-year-old, the police said.
The police booked Revathy on murder charges as well as under Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015, pertaining to cruelty against children, and arrested her. Late on Tuesday evening, the police took Revathy to the Gudiyatham judicial magistrate for further proceedings.