KOCHI: The police on Tuesday arrested a woman and her lover for the murder of her one-and-half-month-old boy at a lodge in Karukapilly, Kochi. The investigation team found that Sanif, 25, of Chakkarakkal, Kannur, murdered the infant with the knowledge of the child’s mother, Aswathy, 25, of Eramalloor, Alappuzha. Sanif has confessed to the crime, that took place on December 3.
The police said the infant was fathered by Aswathy’s ex-boyfriend. “Sanif did not like another person’s child staying with him. So he tortured the child ever since its birth. There were numerous injury marks on the infant’s body. Sanif brought Aswathy and her child to the lodge in Karukapilly and told her he would kill the infant so they could live together. On December 3, early in the morning, he kneed the child, after which the boy became unconscious. To ensure the death, he bit the child. Around 8.15 am, Sanif and Aswathy rushed the infant to the Ernakulam General Hospital claiming the child had choked on breast milk. But the postmortem examination confirmed the death resulted from a head injury,” a police officer said.
On interrogation, Sanif said he befriended Aswathy through a social media platform. Later, they fell in love. Sanif was earlier running a juice shop in Bengaluru while Aswathy had worked as a home nurse at various places. The police said Aswathy’s marriage had earlier been fixed with the murdered infant’s father.
“Her family withdrew the proposal after her ex-boyfriend was involved in a criminal case. Later, she eloped with him. She claimed they were legally married. But no proof has been received yet. They ended their relationship six months ago,” a police officer said.
Sanif was questioned at the Elamakkara police station while Aswathy was interrogated at the Ernakulam Women’s police station. Later, Aswathy was also brought to the Elamakkara police station as part of the arrest-recording procedure. The two will be produced at the court on Wednesday. The body of the child has been kept at a mortuary in Kochi.
“Though Sanif confessed to the crime, Aswathy denied her involvement. She claimed she did not know about the murder as she was asleep. She said when she woke up at 7 am, the child was unconscious. But Sanif claimed Aswathy was involved in the murder, and they planned it together,” the police officer said.
Joseph, the manager of Kay Kay Residency in Karukapilly, where the incident took place, said Sanif introduced Aswathy as his wife and the infant as his son.
“They took a room on November 30. On December 1, they vacated the room claiming they wanted a larger room at a cheaper price. However, on the same day, they returned saying they did not get any room at a nearby place. On December 2, Sanif told us they would be staying in the room for a couple of days more. On December 3, around 7.30 am, they rushed to the hospital claiming the infant was unconscious. We don’t know whether they stayed at the lodge before,” Joseph said.
TORTURED FROM BIRTH
Before murder, prime accused checked web content on strangulation
The police investigation into the murder of a one-and-half-month-old in Karukapilly has revealed that the prime accused Sanif – lover of the deceased infant’s mother – checked web content on killing by strangulation before committing the crime.
A resident of Chakkarakkal in Kannur, Sanif has been attempting to mislead the police who have been interrogating him since December 3.
“In the initial interrogation, both Sanif and Aswathy were adamant that the child died after choking on breast milk. But the doctors at the Ernakulam General Hospital, before the postmortem examination, had passed on information that numerous injuries were found on the child’s body. When we questioned Sanif in this regard, he said the infant regularly scratched its body because of a skin disease. From his response, we were sure he was lying,” a police officer said. Both Sanif and Aswathy said they slept at 2 am on December 3 and woke up at 7 am.
The police checked the mobile phones of both to verify their claims.
“We found that Sanif had checked online content on his mobile phone about how to kill by strangulating a human at 4 am. When we questioned him on that, he did not give any reply. Aswathy’s mobile phone too was active,” the officer said. On checking the CCTV footage from the lodge, the investigators found the duo coming out of their room at 7.30 am. The two did not look tense in the footage, the police said. Also, there were contradictions in the statements given by Sanif and Aswathy.
“Sanif said the mother and the child slept on the bed while he lay on the floor. However, Aswathy claimed she and Sanif slept on either side of the child on the bed,” the officer said.