KOLLAM: A sudden pall of mystery has fallen over the death of Devanandha whose body was recovered from the river Friday morning. Preliminary assessment by the investigating team is that there are only a few chances for the child who was playing in her house to reach the river. That place is a rural area. When you turn to one side you will reach the road and the other to the river and another to some bushy area. There is no way for the child who was inside her house to walk to the river. Her relatives and residents of the area said that though the child had walked to the river two years ago she had never done it after that.

There is no way for the child to go there without telling her mother. In that case, the investigating team is examining whether there is any other connection to the incident. The locals said that the child will not go alone to that area where even the adults are reluctant to go. From the time the body was recovered, the locals are heard saying that the child may have been dumped there after attacking her. The death is suspected to be after drinking water. Her bladders were found inflated. It is also suspected that they child may have been abducted, attacked and then dumped the body in the river. However, a clarification would be obtained only after the results of the post-mortem and forensic examination come, police said.