CUDDALORE: In a shocking case, a five-year-old child was beaten to death in front of her parents by a 65-year-old woman near Virudhachalam. The reason: her parents, being held as bonded labourers, aspired to put her in a school. The child’s body was buried in a cashew farm, and the parents were threatened not to report the crime.
Arun Murugan is a local money lender in the area. He is alleged to have abducted a family of five — Uthandi, his wife Rajeshwari, and their three daughters aged seven, five, and three — for not repaying his debt. The family was being held as bonded labourers in Murugan’s home for the last two years.
Uthandi and his wife did all the chores at Murugan’s home and fields. Apart from food, they were not paid any wages. Though the couple had admitted their eldest daughter to school, the child was also made to do chores at Murugan’s home. Murugan’s mother Kamalam was angry that the other two children could not be put to work; they were too young.
Recently, Uthandi decided to admit his second daughter (5) to school. This enraged Kamalam, who wanted her kept at home and engaged in chores. On October 26, an argument broke out over the matter and Kamalam slapped the five-year-old child, killing her instantly.
“The postmortem report has confirmed that the child was slapped. She hit her head against a hard surface due to the impact,” says Neyveli Thermal police station inspector S Latha. Later Kamalam, her son Murugan, her daughter Anjalai, and her daughter’s friend Arul Iyappan buried the child in their cashew farm at Mudhanai village. They even took Uthandi’s help. “They threatened to kill his other two daughters if he dared to report the crime,” Latha added.
Three arrested
Kamalam, Anjalai and Arul have been arrested by the police, while Murugan is still at large and police are on the lookout for him