Woman throws three-year-old daughter into river in Kerala

Kochi, May 20 (IANS) In a shocking incident, a woman allegedly threw her three-year-old daughter into a river near here.

The woman, Sandhya, picked up her child, Kalyani, from the local Anganwadi around 3.30 p.m.

When Sandhya returned alone, her mother Ally asked whereabouts of Kalyani.

Ally shared, "Sandhya told us Kalyani has gone."

Later, Sandhya told people that Kalyani had gone missing from the bus.

Soon, the police started searching for Kalyani, and while reviewing CCTV footage, they spotted Sandhya near the Chalakudy river.

During interrogation, Sandhya confessed to throwing her child into the river on Monday evening.

Sandhya was taken into police custody, and the locals fished out the body around 3.30 a.m. on Tuesday.

Family problems have now been reported as the root cause of this crime, as Sandhya's husband, Subhash, said she never listened to him, police said.

"Sandhya only listened to her sister and mother. Reports have now surfaced that she was mentally unsound, which is false. She was perfectly fine," said Subhash.

Ashokan, a neighbour, said that in the past, Sandhya tried to feed Kalyani an ice-cream laced with poison, but her elder child foiled her attempt.

"This was brought to the attention of the police, and Sandhya was sent for counselling," said Ashokan.

Soumya, the teacher of the anganwadi, Kalyani used to attend, could not hold back her sadness.

"For the past 18 months, we were like a family. The children gelled well and were happy when they were here during the daytime. We are shocked that Kalyani, who was with us till yesterday, is no longer with us," said Soumya.

Sandhya is presently in the custody of the local Police station near here, and the Ernakulam Rural Police are expected to register her arrest shortly.

The body of Kalyani has been sent for post-mortem examination, after which the body will be handed over to Subhash.

--IANS

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