Mother of three, estranged from husband, family unaware of Jumailath’s pregnancy

TANUR: The body of the newborn baby, killed and buried by the mother at Ottumpuram in Pariyapuram, was exhumed and sent for post-mortem. Jumailath (29), living near Ramananda Ashram at Ottumpuram in Tanur, arrested the other day in the case was produced in the Parappanangady court and remanded.

The accused told police that she suffocated her three-day-old baby to death in order not to reveal her illicit relationship. Tanur circle inspector J Mathew said they got hints about her lover and that he will be arrested soon.

The incident happened on February 26. Jumailath delivered her baby at Kozhikode Medical College Hospital. She killed her baby soon after reaching home from the hospital.

The woman confessed to the crime after she was summoned to the station and interrogatd following information received by the Tanur police. Her arrest was registered on Wednesday night itself. She buried the baby near the well in the land of the house. The body was exhumed yesterday morning and was taken to Manjeri Government Medical College for post-mortem.

Jumailath was living in her own house after estranged from her husband, a native of Kozhikode. She is a mother of three children.

The police said they will investigate whether anyone else is involved in the murder. The family did not know that Jumailath was pregnant and she was not in good terms with them. It is believed that she went alone to the medical college to give birth. The family said as she came at night, they did not know that the baby was with her. The investigating officer said so far there is no indication of the family members being involved in the incident.