A Chennai woman, the mother of a three-year-old boy from Chennai who died in January, has been arrested for the murder of her son. 11 months after the crime, she has confessed to the police that she killed the child as he had an intellectual disability and she found it difficult to take care of him.
According to reports, 33-year-old Nadiya, the mother, and her 34-year-old husband Sakthivel, lived in Korukkupet with their child Ishanth. On January 25, she had rushed the boy to the Government Stanley Medical College and Hospital. She had informed doctors there that he had tripped and fallen down while he was playing and sustained head injuries. The child died three days later, but doctors were not suspicious over the death. It was the autopsy report that led to the police suspecting foul play.
A postmortem of the child's body revealed that he could not have tripped and gotten injured. Due to a nervous disorder, he had reportedly not even begun walking yet. The case was altered to include charges of murder and Nadiya was arrested on Wednesday.
In October this year, a similar case was registered in Tamil Nadu's Virudhunagar district. A 34-year-old man named V Palanikumar had murdered his seven-year-old disabled daughter as he and his wife were unable to take care of her. The girl reportedly couldn't walk, talk or move her head. Her father and mother worked at a spinning mill and one of them had to constantly stay back to take care of the girl. Unable to manage with these arrangements, Palanikumar smothered the child while other family members were at a temple.
When other members including his wife returned, they were shocked to see the young girl dead. Palanikumar himself, however, went to the local police station and surrendered after the crime.