Bodies of twin newborn girls found floating in Thenpennai river
CUDDALORE/VILLUPURAM/KALLAKURICHI: The bodies of two newborn girls were recovered from the Thenpennai River near the new Cuddalore collectorate building on Monday. Passers-by, near the check dam adjacent to the collectorate, noticed a bag containing the bodies of the infants wrapped in cloth floating in the river and informed the police.
The Reddychavady police retrieved the bodies and sent them to the Cuddalore Government Headquarters Hospital for autopsy. The police identified the newborns through identification tags issued by the same hospital.
Police sources said during the investigation, it was found that Prabhakaran, a resident of Melmampattu village near Kadampuliyur in Panruti taluk, and his wife Jayapriya gave birth to the twin girls on Saturday morning. On Sunday night, both the babies allegedly died one after the other, and the hospital handed over the bodies to the parents, said sources.
However, as Jayapriya’s health deteriorated, she was referred to the JIPMER Hospital in Puducherry. Prabhakaran kept the bodies in a bag and handed them over to one of his relatives before leaving for JIPMER, police sources added.
The relative, the police said, allegedly threw the bodies into the river. A case has been registered and further inquiries are underway.
Three drown in separate incidents
Three individuals, including two students, drowned in three separate incidents in Villupuram, Kallakurichi and Cuddalore districts on Sunday.
In the first incident, Vengatesan (57), a washerman from Vembi near Vikravandi in Villupuram district, drowned while washing clothes in a lake. Witnesses informed the Kanjanur police, who recovered the body and sent it to the Government Villupuram Medical College Hospital in Mundiampakkam for autopsy.
In the second incident, S Harikrishnan (9) -- a Class 4 student at a local government primary school in Pachaiveli near Ulundurpet in Kallakurichi district -- drowned while taking a bath in a village pond. Despite their efforts, the villagers could not rescue the boy, as he had wandered into a deeper area of the pond. He was rushed to the Government Hospital in Ulundurpet, where the doctors pronounced him dead on arrival. The body was sent for autopsy.
In the third incident, S Sakthivel (14) -- a Class 8 student from a school in Kallipadi near Srimushnam in Cuddalore district -- drowned while bathing in the Vellaru check dam. Strong currents impeded the rescue efforts of the villagers, sources said. After a two-hour search, fire and rescue services personnel from Srimushnam recovered the body, which was later sent for autopsy.
The police have initiated investigations into all three incidents.