Pathanamthitta: Kerala Police have taken a 45-year-old woman, identified in police-facing reporting as Manju, into custody on Wednesday in connection with the death of her eight-month-old daughter, whose body was found in Pathanamthitta district more than three years ago, according to media reports on the arrest. A special investigation team led by Thiruvalla Deputy Superintendent of Police P. R. Santhosh has been probing the case.
Source: NationWire (citing Indian Express / DBC News)
The infant's body was recovered on August 12, 2023, from a marshy area at Valanjavattom in Pulikeezhu, near Thiruvalla, under the Pulikeezhu police station limits. Because no missing-child complaint had been filed, investigators could not establish the child's identity at the time, and the probe stalled, the reports said.
Source: NewsD
According to media reports, the case resurfaced after fresh leads reached the police about the mother's circumstances and an argument in Palakkad in which the child's death was reportedly mentioned; a local resident passed the information to authorities through a community welfare worker, prompting a renewed inquiry. Investigators then linked the leads to the unidentified infant's body found in Pulikeezhu in 2023. These accounts are based on media reporting of the investigation and have not been detailed in a public police statement.
Reports citing investigators allege that the mother's former partner killed the child in a fit of anger, allegedly after the infant would not stop crying, and that the body was then left in the marsh. Police have not publicly disclosed the full circumstances or each suspect's alleged role, and none of these allegations has been established in court. The arrested woman and the two men being sought are entitled to the presumption of innocence.
Police are searching for two more suspects named in the reports — the mother's former partner, identified as Shivan (also reported as Siva), and his brother, identified in one report as Shakti. Their alleged involvement remains an allegation under investigation.
Authorities have not yet disclosed the full circumstances of the alleged killing. Awaaz Punjab will update this story as police issue a formal statement or the accused are produced in court.