TN 5-yr-old beaten to death with tree branch and PVC pipe, mom and partner arrested

The child's father, who is estranged from the mother, has accused the couple of killing the girl because she was a hindrance to their relationship.

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Just a month ago, Kerala was left reeling in shock after a 7-year-old boy was brutally beaten to death by his mother's partner. Now, a similar horror story from the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu has emerged.

The police on Tuesday arrested a 36-year-old woman and her partner of the same age in Kattuputhur near Musiri in Trichy for grievously injuring and causing the death of the woman’s five-year-old daughter. The accused, identified as Nithya Kamala and Muthu Pandi, had moved to Kattuputhur from Dindigul only a few days ago.

Upon investigation, the police say that Muthu Pandi was allegedly the one who beat P Lathika Sri in front of her mother Nithya Kamala, causing severe injuries to the child’s body.

“The physical abuse had apparently taken place for two days and the child succumbed to her injuries on the second day. He had beaten the child with a coconut tree branch and a PVC pipe. When she fainted on the second day, they took her to the hospital and the issue came to light,” says Musiri DSP P Tamilmaran.

Previously, it was reported that the mother beat her child to death for watching too much television.

The police are presently investigating the two who are lodged at the Kattuputhur Police Station based on a complaint filed by Nithya Kamala’s estranged husband Prasanna. An FIR has been registered under section IPC 302 (murder).

The police told TNM that Prasanna has accused Nithya of murdering their daughter for hindering her relationship with her colleague Muthu Pandi. The police are exploring this angle based on Prasanna’s allegation that the two have tortured his child with an intent to murder. Nithya Kamala’s divorce with Prasanna is currently pending judgment.

“The couple had applied for divorce a few months earlier and Nithya Kamala moved to Kattuputhur a few days ago with Muthu Pandi, who is married to another woman, with an intent of starting life afresh,” an investigating officer from Kattuputhur told TNM.

“Both were employed together at a private college in Dindigul. While he was a PT teacher, she taught Computer. They got to know each other four years ago and this later led to Nithya's divorce,” he further added.

The couple took Lathika to the Namakkal Government Hospital based on a recommendation from the primary health care centre in Kattuputhur where they had initially taken her for first aid as soon as she fainted.

Nithya Kamala allegedly told doctors who asked her about the injuries on her daughter's body that she had beaten up the child for watching too much television. The doctors at Namakkal then directed the couple to the Salem Government Hospital where she was declared brought dead. The police are awaiting Lathika’s post-mortem reports for further investigation.

In April this year, a 7-year-old child was brutally assaulted by his mother's partner in Thodupuzha in Kerala. The boy fought for his life for nine days before he passed away at the Kolenchery Medical College. It was the victim's 4-year-old brother who revealed that it was their mother's partner who had brutally assaulted his brother, resulting in a skull fracture and brain bleeding. The mother had initially said that the victim had had an accident.