Tamil Nadu: Police Arrest Parents For Female Infanticide In Madurai

The arrest was made after an autopsy report revealed that the baby suffered an injury to its head that led to her death.

Chennai: The Madurai district police on Friday arrested a couple--Muthupandi and his wife Kausalya--for murdering their third girl child and absconding from the police and health officials in Madurai. The police arrested the couple after they confessed to killing the baby under charges of female infanticide. 

According to a report in The Hindu, Superintendent of Police V Baskaran said a postmortem was conducted on the baby after the body was exhumed from a place near their home. The autopsy revealed that the baby suffered an injury to its head that led to her death. 

Following this, the police questioned the couple who later confessed to the crime. 

On December 21, Kausalya delivered a baby at Sedapatti Primary Health Centre and she was discharged a couple of days after the delivery. Six days later, the health workers went to the couple's home to check on the baby, however, the couple alleged that the baby "went missing". 

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The health workers alerted the police who filed a complained and started the investigation. However, the couple went absconding with their two other daughters. 

In a statement, the SP requested the families who are unable to raise a child to hand over their babies to the government homes.

Meanwhile, Madurai district is notorious for female infanticide and TN Social Welfare Minister Geetha Jeevan during her visit to the district recently ordered the district administration to form a special team to prevent child marriages and female infanticide.