Mom, grandmom held for killing baby girl

Dharmapuri: In yet another gruesome case of female infanticide in Dharmapuri district, a 20-year-old woman was arrested for poisoning her seven-day-old girl baby in Pappireddipatti. The baby’s grandmother was also arrested for feeding rat poison to the infant.

The child’s father, M. Kuppan, 38, a physical education teacher at the Salem government arts college, was not present during the murder and, hence, not arrested, the police said.

K. Vanitha (20) and her husband Kuppan have a two-year-old daughter. On October 30, 2013, Vanitha gave birth to another girl child.

A week later, on November 7, 2013, the newborn was admitted to the Pappireddipatti government hospital after she fell sick, and shifted to the Dharmapuri government medical college and hospital where she died.

The sudden death of the baby aroused suspicion among health department staff and the subsequent post-mortem confirmed death due to an unknown poisonous substance. Samples of the viscera sent for testing showed that the baby was fed rodent pesticide. When Vanitha and her mother Amutha were picked up for questioning, they confessed to having poisoned the baby as they did not want another girl in the family.