Mom, grandmom get life term for dumping baby’s body in dumpster

CHENNAI: DNA evidence submitted by Chennai Police ensured justice for a dead child as a City Court on Friday sentenced a woman and her mother to life imprisonment for the murder of the child, found in a dumpster in Velachery in 2018. The man who was arrested by the police was acquitted as the DNA evidence proved that he did not father the child.

C Vasanthi (27), the mother of the deceased child, made a plea before the Judge, citing her seven-month-old child from her present marriage, in hopes of receiving leniency when she was pronounced guilty. However, her mother, C Vijaya (55), a widow offered to take responsibility for the murder after charges against them were proven.

Judge T H Mohammed Farooq rejected Vasanthi’s plea for leniency, stating, “It cannot be considered at this stage. The accused failed to give any explanation during the trial. After being found guilty, they are trying to patch up the defect.”

The tragic incident unfolded on September 17, 2018, when municipal garbage collectors discovered the dead child in a dumpster near Kannigapuram in Velachery around 3 am. On information, Guindy police secured the child’s body and sent it for post-mortem.

“We initially thought that the child was killed somewhere else as it is usually the case. But, analysis of CCTV showed no such leads after which our investigation turned to the neighbourhood, “ Inspector D K Balasubramaniyan who was serving as a Sub-Inspector at Guindy police station at the time told DT Next.

During inquiries in the area, police learnt that Vasanthi was found with a bump in her stomach. “When we had asked her about it, she told us that it was because she was fed well by her employers, “ a witness deposed in court.

However, suspicions arose when her stomach flattened within a few days. Further investigation revealed that Vasanthi had given birth to the child out of wedlock, with assistance from her mother, Vijaya. Tragically, they had placed the newborn in a vessel, resulting in the child’s untimely death.

A month after the child was found in the garbage bin. Subsequently, Vijaya, Vasantha and her former partner, Jeyaraj was arrested by then Guindy Inspector N S Kumar.

Vasantha was working as a domestic help at the forest department offices near her residence and Jeyaraj was a contract driver and they both were acquainted at the workplace.

“On the day the child’s body was discovered, she was standing casually along with the crowd, “ a resident told DT Next. According to Kannigapuram residents, after the incident, the family sold their house and moved to another neighbourhood. Vasantha got married recently after suppressing about the incident and has a seven-month-old child now, according to her former neighbours.

Meanwhile, Post mortem results showed that the child had died of asphyxiation due to smothering. After perusing the evidence submitted by the prosecution, the court noted that there is no direct evidence to prove the charges against the accused and the prosecution has only relied upon certain circumstantial evidence and has proved the chain of circumstances. Inspector Sivakumar who took over investigations had sent a requisition for the collection of blood samples from the accused which proved vital.

“One of the clinching piece of evidence available to prove that Vasanthi is the biological mother of the deceased baby is the DNA report. During post-mortem, the doctor had preserved the femur from the body of the deceased baby and sent it to forensic analysis which was matched with the blood samples from the accused, “ the sessions judge stated and sentenced the women to life imprisonment.