Day after two-year girl’s murder, neighbour held

CHENNAI: A day after a two-and-a-half year old girl was found dead at an empty ground near Villivakkam, the city police arrested a neighbour for having allegedly murdered the child over previous enmity with the family of the deceased.

Police said Devi (35) of Bharathi Nagar confessed to the police that she had allegedly forced the child’s head inside a bucket of water and later dumped the body at the empty ground near the house to avoid suspicions.

Venkatesan (27) and his wife Jayanthi (23) along with their daughter Kavya resided at Second Street, Bharathi Nagar in Villivakkam.”Devi had moved to the same area three months ago and recently had a fight with the child’s parents. When Jayanthi went to a nearby shop, leaving her daughter back at home on Tuesday, Devi, who was in a vindictive state of mind, took the child to her house and murdered her,”said the investigation officer.

When Jayanthi returned home, she found the child missing. So, she lodged a complaint with the Villivakkam police.

On Wednesday morning, local resident Kumar spotted Kavya’s body at the empty ground near the house with her nose bleeding. Police investigation led to the arrest of Devi who will be remanded in judicial custody.