CHERTHALA: The police has recorded the statement of the mother who smothered her 15-month-old baby girl to death. The baby’s mother Athira had confessed to the crime and asserted that in a fit of rage killed the baby. Meantime, the investigating team said they will question her again. She is trying to claim that the act was not deliberate.

The baby Adhisha was born to Athira and Sharon. If the baby was smothered to death with her hands then there would have been some marks on the baby’s or mother’s body. The police is examining the possibility of suffocating her using a pillow. The local residents said Athira did not have any emotions when the body was laid for the funeral. She was taken into custody soon after the baby was cremated.

She along with her neighbours took the baby to the taluk hospital in Cherthala when the baby was found unresponsive on the bed. However, the doctors declared the child brought dead and informed the police. When the police inspected the body, a small cut was found on the lips of the girl. The post mortem was done at the Alappuzha Medical College Hospital and the report concluded asphyxiation as the cause of death.

Soon after the cremation, the police questioned the baby’s father Sharon, mother Athira and Sharon’s parents. After hours long questioning, Athira confessed to the people that she murdered the baby.