MALAPPURAM: The police on Tuesday confirmed that the death of the 2-year-old girl in Kalikavu was due to a brutal physical assault from her father. Kalikavu circle inspector Sasidharan Pillai said they have arrested Mohammed Fayis, 22, a resident of Udirampoyil in Kalikavu, for fatally assaulting the child.
Sasidharan Pillai said that the doctor who conducted the postmortem examination reported that the child was subjected to brutal assault.
“The assaults from the father caused the death of the child. The mother and a neighbour gave statements that the father assaulted the child. So, taking into consideration the doctor’s report and statements of her mother, we arrested Mohammed Fayis and slapped Section 302 (punishment for murder) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 75 (Punishment for cruelty to child) of the Juvenile Justice Act on him,” the officer said.
The police identified marks of assault on her head and chest. Her ribs were also broken.
The incident came to light when the accused took his daughter to a hospital on Sunday after she became unconscious. He told the hospital authorities that she choked on food. However, the child was dead before reaching the hospital.
Following the death of the child, the relatives of her mother lodged a complaint at Kalikavu police station against the accused. They alleged that he used to assault both his child and his wife. Based on the complaints, the police took Fayis into custody on Monday, and after considering the post-mortem report, his arrest was recorded.
The mother’s sister told reporters, “Fayis started to harass my sister two months after their marriage. A complaint was lodged at the police station at that time, but no further action was taken. This is not the first time he was physically assaulting the child.”