COIMBATORE: The girl’s mother alleged that the cops and authorities hurried through the cremation in Salem without her consent, somehow securing the permission of her husband.
I insisted on assurance from CM C Joseph Vijay on securing the death penalty for the culprits before accepting the body. So the authorities got the signature of my husband and cremated the mortal remains without my presence, she said.
She further claimed that she was unaware when the child’s body had been taken from the hospital to Salem in an ambulance through a rear exit and cremated before she could reach the village by car.
“By the time I arrived, the cremation had already taken place. When I questioned them, they attempted to assault me. I didn't even get a chance to see my child one last time,” she alleged.
The grieving mother also clarified that she had no personal dispute with her husband, and claimed that her refusal to sign documents to receive the body was the reason she was sidelined during the funeral arrangements.
However, authorities claimed that the body was handed over to her parents and cremated in her native village in Kolathur in Salem on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the 33-year-old construction worker arrested in the case allegedly told police that he strangled the child after she screamed during the assault, investigators said.
The accused Karthi, undergoing treatment for fractures allegedly suffered after a fall from the first floor of a building while fleeing, was shifted from the intensive care unit to the prisoners' ward of the Coimbatore Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) on Sunday. He has reportedly given a confession statement,
According to police, another accused, Mohan, who was aware of the murder, did not inform anyone and pretended to search for the victim along with the police. Police are likely to move the court seeking custody of the duo to conduct further investigations in the sensational case.
Police have seized the mobile phones of both accused, and further investigation is underway.