Man, wife arrested for killing newborn in Kollam

Monday 23 April 2018 05:30 PM IST

by Our Correspondent

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Ambily being brought to the crime spot for evidence collection.

Kollam: A man and his wife were arrested by the Kollam police in connection with the death of a newborn, whose body was found abandoned in bushes near Gurunadha Mahadeva Temple at Puthoor in Kollam district last week. The baby was killed by the woman as the couple, who didn't want a child, failed to go for medical termination of pregnancy at the right time.

The arrested are Mahesh (26) and his wife Ambily (24) who are residents of the area from which the body was recovered.

According to the police, the couple hid the pregnancy from the relatives and neighbours. After giving birth, Ambily strangulated the baby and disposed the body after digging a hole in the backyard of her house, which is located in Pavithreswaram panchayat in Puthur.

The police suspect that the dogs retrieved the buried body from the pit. They were alerted the other day after locals saw stray dogs tearing flesh near the temple. The body was found with limbs severed in a bush after the police and some local residents combed an area near the temple.

The couple, who had a love marriage, already have a two-and-half-year-old son. The couple was unaware about the pregnancy in the early months. Later when they got to know about it during a check-up at a private hospital they requested for an abortion. By then Ambily was four months into her pregnancy and doctor did not heed to their request. They also approached another hospital in Kundera with same demand but there also doctors turned them away. In a desperate bid to abort the child, Ambily started having some medicines based on some advice the couple received. This worsened the situation and Ambily started to have regular bleeding.

On April 17, she suffered severe pain and delivered the child at her house itself. Ambily told the police that she was alone at the house when she delivered the baby. Soon, she choked the baby to death and disposed it in the pit. She told police that she feared that baby could have physical or mental deformity as she had medicines to abort the child.

Though Mahesh was not present when the incident took place, police have also made him an accused as he actively tried to abort the child along with his wife. The couple also hid the birth of the child which is also against the law.

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