Weeks after the body of a one-month-old baby was found floating in a lake in Velachery, Chennai police on Thursday arrested three persons for drowning an infant in a bucket of water and dumping the child’s body.
According to reports, 22-year-old Vasanthi was in a relationship with 23-year-old Jayaraj for three years. Six months ago, Vasanthi found that she was pregnant and informed her mother Vijaya, who took her to a clinic to get an abortion. However, the clinic refused to abort the foetus citing legal issues and Vasanthi and Vijaya decided to keep the pregnancy secret from their relatives.
On October 16, Vasanthi developed labour pains and was taken to a hospital. The doctors referred them to the Government Maternity Hospital for delivery. Fearing questions about Vasanthi’s marital status, Vijaya returned home with her daughter.
After Vasanthi delivered a baby girl at around 10.30 am, Vijaya called Jayaraj to the house. After a discussion, the three decided to kill the baby in a bucket of water. The police told Times of India that Vijaya abandoned the baby’s body in a nearby dustbin after wrapping it in a cloth. The next day, a group of workers who came to clean the dustbin found the body and alerted the Guindy police.
The police registered a case and formed a special team to nab the culprits. With the help of CCTV footage, the police narrowed down the suspects to Vasanthi, Vijaya and Jayaraj. The three were later arrested and remanded to judicial custody.