Three women, including a mother and daughter pair, were arrested for killing a 45-day-old baby boy in Arakkonam near Ranipet over a house dispute.
The police said S. Thenmozhi, 52, K. Bharathi,29, her daughter, and their relative Anu, 37, were the residents of Arakkonam. The mother and daughter were trying to take possession of the house of R. Mano, 29, their relative and a flower vendor after his father’s death. But their plans did not materialise as Mr. Mano and his mother Ilamathi continued to have a hold on the house.
“Thenmozhi’s plans to marry off Bharathi to Mano did not work as he had married another girl from a nearby village. This frustrusted the mother and daughter and they hatched a plan take revenge,” the police said.
On the night of June 4, Thenmozhi and Bharathi went to Mr. Mano’s house. The couple and the child were asleep at that time. The duo took the baby to the toilet in the backyard of the house and drowned it in the plastic bucket filled with water and left. Next morning, Amsa Nandhini, 23, Mano’s wife, searched for her child and found him in the bucket. The police were alerted and the body was shifted to the government hospital for post-mortem.
Subsequently, Z. Annie Vijaya, DIG (Vellore) and Deepa Satyan , SP (Ranipet), inspected the house. Special teams were formed to probe the case. Initial investigation revealed that the entire crime was executed by the mother and daughter to get hold of the house. The breakthrough in the case was possible mainly due to the footage of CCTV cameras.
The cameras recorded the movement of the duo on June 4 when they killed the baby boy. Further questioning of the three women unfolded the entire sequence of the crime. A case has been filed by the Arakkonam town police. The accused were lodged in the prison, the police said.