A woman who killed her four-year-old grandniece by throwing her into the Manali river at Puthukkad has been sentenced to life imprisonment. Thrissur Principal Sessions Judge Sofi Thomas on Tuesday also slapped a fine of ₹50,000 on Shailaja, 50, of Ollur. She would have to undergo an additional two years in jail, if she failed to pay the fine.
The incident happened on October 13, 2016. Meba, 4, daughter of Ranjith and Neeshma of Mattannur, reached her mothers’ s house at Pazhayil, near Puthukkad, for a funeral function.
Shailaja was Neeshma’s paternal aunt. Shailaja, who has a grudge with Neeshma’s family, threw the granddaughter of her brother to the Manalippuzha. She told the relatives, who were searching for the girl that some Bengalis kidnapped her.
Back in 2013, Shailaja had stolen Meba’s jewellery during her first birthday celebrations. Following this the child’s family had a fallout with Shailaja.
She was also booked by the police in a trafficking case in the same year.
Following these two incidents Neeshma’s family banned Shailaja from visiting their house. This prompted the woman to commit the gruesome murder.
The court, which found Shailaja guilty, sentenced her to life imprisonment. Public Prosecutor K.D. Babu appeared for the prosecution.
Via videoconference
It was the first case in the State in which judicial proceedings were done through videoconferencing as the child’s parents were working in Australia.
As they failed to get leave, they were asked to appear at the Indian Embassy in Australia and record their statements through videoconferencing.