The Cherthala police on Monday arrested a woman and her lover for allegedly killing a newborn child. The arrested have been identified as Asha Manoj (35) and Ratheesh (39) of Pallipuram near Cherthala.
According to the police, Asha delivered a baby boy at a private hospital in Cherthala on August 26. She, along with the child, was discharged on August 31.
After an Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) worker visited the womanโs home, the child was found missing. The woman told the ASHA worker that the baby had been handed over to a childless couple from Thripunithura in Ernakulam due to her poor financial situation. The ASHA worker immediately informed the matter to the local body authorities, who then alerted the police.
The police first took Asha and later Ratheesh into custody. On Monday evening, they recovered a childโs body from the bathroom of Ratheeshโs house. Officials said that Ratheesh, who was in a relationship with the woman, had confessed to smothering the child to death. โA post-mortem examination of the body will be conducted and more details will be revealed later,โ said an official.
The woman is reportedly married to another person and has two children.
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