In a shocking incident, a 26-year-old woman allegedly threw her six-year-old disabled son into a river infested with crocodiles in Dandeli taluk, after an argument with her husband. According to the police, the couple often clashed over their elder son's speech disability, which had been present since birth. They also have a two-year-old son.
Ravi Kumar, the husband, frequently argued with Savitri over their elder son's condition, even going so far as to question why she had given birth to such a child. He had also told her to "get rid of the child" on multiple occasions, they added.
What did the police say?
According to the police, following a fight over the same matter on Saturday evening, frustrated Savitri allegedly threw her elder son into a waste canal directly linked to the Kali river which is infested with crocodiles.
The neighbours alerted the police. They reached the spot and with the help of locals and divers, conducted a search operation to rescue the child. However, since it was dark, the police could not find the child.
Police retrieve child's body
On Sunday morning, the police managed to retrieve the body of the child with severe injuries, bite marks across the body and a missing hand indicating that the child was the victim of a crocodile attack, a police officer said. The body was sent for post-mortem to ascertain the exact cause of death, police said, adding a further investigation into the matter is underway.
"We have registered a case at Dandeli Rural Police station under section 109 (Abetment of any offence, if the act abetted is committed in consequence, and where no express provision is made for its punishment) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and arrested both husband and wife in connection with the incident," the officer said.
(With inputs from PTI)
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