Alvalahalli police in East Bengaluru have revealed a horrific case of infant homicide. A 22-year-old man has been arrested and his wife is under arrest by a forensic investigation after the couple murdered their 11-month-old daughter in a violent domestic dispute and attempted to cover up the death as an accident in their house.
Kithaganur village in the eastern part of Bengaluru was where the tragedy took place. Shekhappa, a 22-year-old tractor driver from Yadgir district of Karnataka, was arrested. Shekhappa and his wife Vijayalakshmi had a toxic relationship and often would have a fight due to his suspicion about Vijayalakshmi. The story started when Shekhappa went to the local authorities to report the accidental death of their child.
The parents played it cool telling the police that the baby girl had been killed by an accident. The baby had fallen from a two-foot-high wooden cot in her mother's arms while Vijayalakshmi was breastfeeding and had fallen asleep. The Avalahalli police took their parents’ information and declared it as unnatural death according to Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS). The body of the victim was sent for postmortem examination to establish the exact reason for death. Medical Evidence Blows Up the Cover-up.
The whole facade of the parents' story was shattered when the post-mortem report appeared from the medical board. The evidence contradicted the parents’ story of severe internal trauma and was clear that this could not be explained by a simple fall from a two-foot-high cot. The autopsy report provided a terrible picture of the infant’s final moments: severe internal injuries to the torso and abdomen. Massive internal bleeding (hemorrhage) caused by strong blunt force impact. Acute respiratory failure caused directly by physical trauma.
The police investigators found out and they were confronted with a stark picture in forensic evidence and Shekhappa was subjected to intense interrogations that made them realize what the disturbing truth was. As the fight grew into physical violence, the rage-blinded father launched his aggression toward the helpless 11-month-old girl. In a moment of extreme brutality, Shekhappa violently kicked the infant and threw her down on the hard floor. The child sustained catastrophic injuries and was admitted to a local hospital, where she subsequently died. With the child’s death in the family, the two formed the breastfeeding and cot fall story to protect themselves from legal harm.
Legal Action and Current Status. Police changed the case from an unnatural death to a premeditated murder investigation as we know it now. Both parents have been booked under Sections 103(1) (murder) and 3(5) (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Shekhappa was promptly arrested and remanded to judicial custody, his wife Vijayalakshmi fled and is still at large. The Avalahalli police have formed special tracking teams and the couple’s second daughter was the deceased child of Shekhappa and Vijayalakshmi. The investigation is on, as police are still trying to find out the exact sequence of events that led to this tragic loss of a young life.
