Couple leaves GH with baby stuffed in cloth bag, female infanticide suspected

Police said that Shanmugam, 40, a lorry driver from JKJ Colony on Manikkapuram Road in Palladam and his wife Mumtaz alias Dhanalakshmi, 35, had even buried the infant without informing anyone. They got married in 2016 and have two daughters and a son. 

In the meantime, Dhanalakshmi gave birth to another girl, their fourth child at Palladam Government Hospital on June 12. As she became weak due to heavy discharge of blood, the mother and the newborn were admitted to Tirupur Government Hospital, but she suddenly disappeared along with the baby, without informing hospital authorities. 

Thereafter, nurses from the Primary Health Centre (PHC) in Palladam tracked down the couple and enquired about the baby and were shocked to find out she had died and that she had been buried in Kalivelampatti ‘pirivu’. 

Based on information from the PHC staff, the Palladam police carried out investigations and found out that the couple had left the Tirupur GH without completing the course of treatment by stuffing the baby in a ‘kattai pai’ (bag), along with clothes. 

“The couple claims that the girl was dead by the time she was taken out of the bag on reaching home. Only a post mortem done after exhuming the body would reveal the exact nature of death. It could be a case of female infanticide and further inquiries are on,” a police officer said. 

The Child Welfare Committee is also probing the incident.