Unable to pay for dengue treatment, woman kills infant, self in Namakkal

The deceased, P Anbukodi, 32, wife of Periasamy, a barber from Belukurichi in Namakkal district, took the extreme step as she was depressed over not having money to treat her son.

Police said that Periasamy and Anbukodi took the boy Sarveen, who developed fever on Sunday, to a private hospital in Salem on Monday morning. After a series of tests, the doctors at the hospital detected that Sarveen was afflicted with dengue. But, the poor parents were shocked to know from the hospital that they had to shell out nearly Rs 5,000 a day for his treatment. 

The couple left the hospital with their son unable to pay for the treatment. They were depressed over the fate of their son. Police said that Anbukodi was expressing fear that dengue would snuff out the life of her son if left untreated. 

The family then retired to sleep, but when Periasamy woke up around 3.30 am, he found his wife and son missing from the house. He searched for both, but couldn’t find them anywhere. In the morning, villagers noticed the body of the woman and her son floating in a well in the same neighbourhood. 

On information, Fire and Rescue personnel rushed to the spot and retrieved the body of the duo from the well and sent them for post-mortem to Rasipuram Government Hospital. Police have registered a case and further investigation is on. The couple also has a nine-year-old daughter Sharmila Shri.