Court sentences woman to life imprisonment for murder of baby, committed act to live with lover

KANNUR: The court has awarded life imprisonment to a woman, who killed her one-and-a-half-year-old baby by throwing him on the sea wall at Thayyil in Kannur. The woman identified as Saranya killed her baby Viyan. The Thaliparambu additional sessions court imposed a fine of Rs one lakh on her. The verdict says that if Saranya pays the fine, the amount should be given to her husband. The court while delivering the verdict observed that it was an act that should not have been done by a mother. The child not aware of anything was killed. The court said the verdict should be a lesson to the society. Nidhin, the second accused in the case and Saranya's friend, was acquitted. The case is that she threw her son into the sea at night to avoid him from living with Nidhin.

The incident happened on February 17 in 2020. The body of the baby, who was sleeping with her parents, was recovered from among the stones used to build the wall on. Saranya told the police that she expected to implicate her husband Pranav in the murder and live with her lover. She had a strained relationship with her husband. The police filed a charge sheet on the 90th day of her arrest.

The charge sheet states that her lover was involved in the conspiracy of the murder. Saranya's clothes and bed sheets were subjected to forensic examination. Saranya planned to kill the baby by throwing it into the sea. The forensic team that examined Saranya's clothes found traces of salt. However, Saranya did not confess to the crime in the first interrogation.

Saranya was waiting for an opportunity to kill the baby. Pranav, who was estranged from Saranya's father, used to come home on days when his father-in-law went fishing. Saranya chose this time for the murder.

Saranya took the baby and went to the beach after her husband slept. When the baby cried, she covered his mouth with her hands. She tried to throw her baby into the sea, but were afraid that it might wash ashore. Thus, the child was killed by hitting his head on the sea wall. The postmortem report stated that the cause of death was a head injury.

Pranav had filed a complaint with the Kannur City Police stating that the child, who had been sleeping at home at night, had gone missing in the morning. The body was found by locals on the Thayyil Beach road, among a group of rocks. There were wounds on the forehead and hands. From the beginning, the investigating officers were confident that the child, who had slept with her parents, would not go anywhere without their knowledge.

The police were confused when Saranya told police that her husband was behind the murder and Pranav saying that she may have killed the baby. The contradictions in Saranya's statements led the police to suspect her.