Surya Kala, 29; Ragavi, 6

CHENNAI: In a shocking turn of events in the case of death of a six-year-old girl, police arrested the child's stepmother after they found she had on Tuesday pushed the girl down from their second floor apartment in Selaiyur.

A police officer said 29-year-old Surya Kala, who is four-months pregnant now, disliked her stepdaughter Ragavi as her husband Parthiban was very affectionate towards her.

Parthiban, a software engineer and a native of Dharmapuri, stayed in a flat at Hastinapuram on rent. He married Surya Kala, a native of Thirupathur, three years ago, after the death of his first wife Saranya. While marrying Parthiban, Kala had promised to take care of Ragavi too, police said.

After the girl's death, Kala told her husband and police that the girl might have climbed the parapet of the balcony and fallen to her death.

As the girl was too small to climb the parapet, police grew suspicious and questioned Kala further. She confessed that she had pushed the girl as she didn't like her husband showering more affection on Raghavi than on their one-and-a-half-year-old son Viyan .

"Parthiban asked Kala to abort her pregnancy as they already had two kids. Kala was upset with her husband as he counted Ragavi also as their child and her anger turned towards the girl after Parthiban left for work," said an investigating officer.

Based on Parthiban's complaint, police registered a murder case under the IPC Section 302 (murder) and arrested her. Surya Kala was remanded in judicial custody after being produced before a magistrate court in Tambaram on Wednesday. Further investigations are on.

