Baby’s death puts parents under scanner

MADURAI: A 22-year-old mother from Sathayamurthy Nagar in Kovilamkulam rushed her 18-day-old infant baby girl, who was reportedly unconscious and bleeding from nose, to the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Chellampatti on Thursday. Doctors at the PHC immediately referred the case to the government Usilampatti hospital, where doctors declared the baby 'dead on arrival'. This on the same day the Chekkanurani police arrested three persons for the infanticide of a 31-day-old baby girl at P Meenakshipatti near here, according to sources.

On the death of the Kovilamkulam baby, the Valandur police,  have registered a case under CrPC Section 174. They are awaiting the report of the postmortem examination performed on the baby's body at the Usilampatti GH on Friday to decide on the next course action. A viscera test would also be conducted. Tissue samples for this test were sent to the forensic laboratory in Madurai the same day.

What the parents say

The baby was born to a couple -- Madhu* (29) and Priya* (22) -- from Sathayamurthy Nagar in Kovilamkulam on February 17 at Chellampatti Primary Health Centre (PHC). The couple's elder daughter is one-and-a-half year old. Preliminary investigation showed that Priya breast-fed the infant on Thursday morning and laid it in the cradle before continuing with her chores. When she checked on the baby in the afternoon, she found it bleeding from nose. Both the parents claimed innocence in the baby's death, according to sources.

 *Names changed to protect identities of the parents until charges are drawn up