HYDERABAD: A post-mortem report on Wednesday confirmed that a one-year-old girl who had died under suspicious circumstances at Mangalhat late on Tuesday, passed away due to ill health. Rumours started swirling soon after the child died that her mother had killed her in a drunken stupor. However, the autopsy report did not mention any injuries on the girl’s body, police said. “Prima facie, a case under Section 174 of the CrPC was registered and investigation began. Based on the post-mortem findings and other clues, the investigation will proceed,” said N Ravi, Inspector, Mangalhat police station.
According to police, the girl’s mother, 32-year-old Laxmi lives in one of the huts near Dattatreya Kaman, behind Seetharambagh temple in Mangalhat. A ragpicker, Laxmi is addicted to alcohol despite having a toddler to look after.On Tuesday, after completing her day’s work, she consumed a large amount of alcohol. Later during the night, she tried to wake up her daughter from her sleep by patting her cheeks and back.
Locals who saw this, suspected Laxmi of beating her daughter to death and alerted the police immediately.
When night patrolling teams rushed to the spot, locals told them that Laxmi had beaten the child to death.
The post-mortem report however ruled both external and internal injuries. Doctors believe that the girl was suffering from some infection. They also said that the girl could have died during the afternoon hours. Police suspect as Laxmi was heavily drunk, she did not realise this and thinking the child was asleep, tried to wake her up.