3 Yrs On, Mom Held for Killing Baby Girl
DHARMAPURI: In an incident shedding light on the lethargic pace of investigation in female infanticide cases, the district police on Saturday arrested a 36-year-old woman for allegedly poisoning her three-month-old daughter, three years after the crime.
The police said that Palani (36), wife of Veeramani and a resident of Meduhalli village near Karimangalam, was a daily wager. In 2011, she gave birth to her fourth daughter. However, three months after her birth, the child died under mysterious circumstances.
The Village Administrative Officer had raised suspicion over the death and lodged a complaint with the police, who registered a case under section 174 of the CrPC (suspicious death).
However, in a district notorious for female infanticide, the police sat on the complaint for three years before finally waking up to start investigations.
Sources claimed that the police received the chemical analysis report only last week. The report revealed that traces of poison were found in the test samples of the baby.
Based on the report, police picked up Palani for questioning, during which she reportedly confessed to having poisoned her daughter.
Palani claimed that she administered poison to the child without the knowledge of her husband. Based on the report and Palani’s confession, police altered the case from section 174 to section 302 of the Indian Penal Code and arrested her. She was later produced before a court, which remanded her in custody.