A woman and her male accomplice have been arrested in connection with the death of her one-and-a-half-year-old child from her first marriage in this area two days ago, police said on Sunday.
An officer at Nedumangad police station said that Akhila and her accomplice Ashkar were arrested on charges of subjecting child Arshid to brutal abuse, which led to his death on May 29.
According to the police, an autopsy revealed multiple injuries on the child’s body, which led to the arrest of the mother and her partner.
Police registered a case of unnatural death on Saturday.
Al-Ashqar said in his statement to the police that on May 29, around 4.30 p.m., after eating food and water and while lying down to sleep, Arshid suddenly started coughing.
Then he vomited from his mouth and nose, and the food and water he had consumed came out. Then he became unconscious and weak.
Al-Ashqar said that he transferred the child by ambulance to a nearby hospital. From there he was transferred to SAT Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.
After examination, doctors announced that the child had indeed died at around 6.08 pm.
The child’s body reportedly bore many healed scars from previous injuries.
The police open an investigation
Police launched an investigation after the child’s grandparents raised suspicions that the child’s mother and her partner were responsible for his injuries.
A police officer said that the child’s father died before he was born.
The child’s maternal grandmother told a TV channel on Saturday that there were several injuries all over the child’s body.
“He did not suffer any injuries when my daughter took him from my house,” the grandmother claimed while crying.
She also said that on a previous occasion, the child’s arms had been broken in what her daughter claimed was a fall. She doubted this explanation and filed a complaint with the police.
“After that, at the insistence of her partner, my daughter filed a complaint with the DySP alleging that I was interfering in their affairs,” the grandmother alleged.
The child’s paternal and maternal grandparents claimed that there were circular burn marks all over the child’s body, which appeared to be caused by cigarettes.
The maternal grandfather said: “There is no part of the child’s body that was not injured.”
