more-in NAGERCOIL In a suspected case of female infanticide, a newborn baby was found dead even as it was under the care of its mother on Sunday night. According to District Child Protection Officer (DCPO) Kumudha, the 35-day-old baby of Muthu Ganesh (23) of Kattuputhur near Bhoothapandi, a casual labourer, and Lakshmi (21) died under mysterious circumstances. On coming to know of the baby’s death, a Village Health Nurse attached to Arumanainallur primary health centre alerted her higher-ups. The Medical Officer of the PHC, who examined the baby, alerted the DCPO to the suspicious death of the baby, which did not bear any external injury. During investigation, Ms. Kumudha found that Lakshmi, mother of a 4-year-old girl, gave birth to the baby at Kanniyakumari Government Medical College Hospital at Asaripallam on July 14 through normal delivery and refused to undergo tubectomy as Muthu Ganesh wanted to have a boy too. “Lakshmi told me that the baby, sleeping next to her, was breathless following bleeding in the nose around 11.30 p.m. on Sunday. However, Muthu Ganesh and his mother Vasantha, 45, did not take any step to rush the baby to the PHC or a hospital, which raised suspicion. Hence, I filed a complaint with Boothapandi police about the suspicious death of this baby,” Ms. Kumudha told The Hindu. However, the police personnel there refused to accept the complaint and asked Ms. Kumudha to remove the word ‘suspicious death’ from the complaint. But the DCPO, who informed Collector Prashant M. Wadanere of the police’s attitude, was firm in her stance. Finally, the police registered a case. “Though the body was sent to Kanniyakumari Government Medical College, the post-mortem could not be conducted on Monday due to some procedural delay on the part of the the police. We’ve alerted the All India Democratic Women’s Association activists and other political parties,” a girl student from the village said. Ms. Kumudha said the post-mortem would reveal the cause of death and the case would be taken forward accordingly.

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