'Our daughter's gone, I killed her': Shilpa's message to ex-partner proved decisive in solving murder of toddler

Mavelikkara: "Molu (daughter) is dead, I killed her. My daughter...please call, our molu is gone, Aju." This was the message Shilpa sent to her former partner Ajmal which later proved decisive in the investigation. Shilpa (29), of Kanjiram in Kottayam, was arrested on Monday for strangulating her 11-month-old child, Shikhanya, to death.

According to police, Shilpa murdered Shikhanya in the wee hours of Saturday in their rented house in Mavelikkara. Around 3.18 am, Shilpa reportedly sent WhatsApp messages to Ajmal mentioning that she had killed their daughter and apologised for the same. But he did not take the texts seriously.

Though Shilpa was taken into custody and interrogated after police became suspicious about the death, she was let go as there were no injuries, wounds or deep marks on the body and cops assumed the baby must have suffered a cardiac arrest. It was the postmortem report, that revealed suffocation as the cause of death, which made the mother the prime suspect. Shilpa, in her statement, said the child was a hindrance to her work, according to police.

On Saturday around 9.30 am, Shilpa reached Shoranur in a rented car with the body to visit Ajmal, who works as a tea stall keeper in a movie theatre near the railway station. Ajmal noticed that the baby was not crying or moving at all. He immediately contacted Shoranur Police suspecting foul play. The police asked the couple to bring the baby to the Shoranur government hospital. The medical officer after checking the baby confirmed that the baby had been dead for a long time before she was brought to the hospital.

"One of Ajmal's friend, who saw Shilpa coming out of the car, noticed the taxi driver fleeing the scene soon after pulling out Shilpa’s luggage. We suspect the driver also has a role in the incident. We are searching for the car and its driver,” said a senior official from the Shoranur police station.