Alappuzha: An Anganwadi teacher was arrested in Veliyanad village of Kuttanad taluk here on Monday for allegedly stealing the gold chain of a five-year-old autistic child.
The Ramankari Police booked her for stealing the gold chain in Sehwag fashion weighing 10.250 gm from the body of the son of a Kumarankari native.
The accused, while stealing the chain, replaced it with a fake one in the same fashion around the neck of the child. The police registered the case on the complaint of the child's parent.
During the investigation, it was revealed that Shobha Sajeev (49), the teacher at Anganwadi No. 94, Kumarankari, where the complainant's son was studying, participated in a conference at Kidangara on June 21.
That day, she visited an imitation jewellery store in Changanassery and purchased a fake gold chain in the Sehwag fashion and cut it there to the precise size of the original chain.
According to reports, on June 26, the accused removed the child's gold chain at the Anganwadi and replaced it with the fake chain. To allegedly cover up the theft, a gold cross on the original chain was placed on the duplicate one.
The accused is a native of Neelamperoor panchayat. She was arrested and produced before the court, which remanded her in judicial custody and send to the Mavelikkara sub-jail.