Infant's death: Mother, friend arrested in Kerala

Alappuzha (Kerala), Aug 11 (PTI) Kerala police on Sunday arrested a 22-year-old woman and her friend after exhuming the body of her infant child from a place near Thakazhi here.

Police have arrested Poochackal resident Donna and Thakazhi resident Thomas (24) after a forensic team on Sunday exhumed a two-days-old child's body from a vacant land.

Their friend, an accomplice, is under custody, police added.

The incident came to light on August 10, when the woman reached a private hospital at Kochi seeking treatment.

A senior police official said the woman had told the hospital authorities that her child was abandoned at an 'Ammathottil' centre at Alappuzha.

Ammathottil, is an initiative of the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare (KSCCW), which provides cradle centres across the state where children can be left, instead of abandoning them on way sides or other insecure places.

"The hospital authorities informed the police and found that her statement was contradicting. Later, we took her friends into custody," the official said.

According to the preliminary reports, the woman gave birth to the child on August 7.

Alappuzha District police chief, Chaitra Teresa John, told the media that the body was suspected to be two-days-old.

"The cause of death of the child can be ascertained only after the post mortem," she said. PTI RRT RRT SS