Kerala Police on Sunday arrested an unmarried couple who had been living together for their alleged involvement in the deaths of their two newborns.
The case came to light after the male partner, Bavin, 25, walked into the Pudukad police station in Thrissur with a bag, claiming that it contained the skeletal remains of two newborns, news agency PTI reported.
Bavin was allegedly intoxicated when he arrived at the police station at 12.30 am, police added.
Following this, Kerala police launched an investigation and took Bavin and his partner, Aneesha, 23, a lab technician, into custody. Forensic surgeons examined the bones and prima facie verified them as those of newborns, The Indian Express quoted Thrissur Rural SP B Krishna Kumar as saying.
Kumar added that a detailed examination of the remains would be conducted as part of the investigation. The accused couple allegedly befriended each other in 2020 through social media and had plans to get married.
While Bavin had remained silent about the deaths until now, his strained relationship with Aneesha, whom he suspected of having an affair, led him to reveal the incidents to the police.
Woman buried the remains nearby to perform rituals, say police
Thrissur Rural SP Kumar said that while handing the bag over to the police, Bavin claimed that the bones had been kept to perform rituals so the souls of the newborns would attain moksha.
{{/usCountry}}Thrissur Rural SP Kumar said that while handing the bag over to the police, Bavin claimed that the bones had been kept to perform rituals so the souls of the newborns would attain moksha.
{{/usCountry}}Police said that the first child was born in November 2021. During initial questioning, the woman told the police that the first child had died naturally due to the umbilical cord getting tied around its neck during birth, according to PTI.
However, Aneesha later admitted that the newborn had been suffocated shortly after birth, with the body buried in a plot near the house where the couple lived.
Eight months later, the woman allegedly dug up the pit and handed over the skeletal remains to Bavin, The Indian Express quoted police as saying.
Aneesha also confessed to killing a second baby born in August 2024. The newborn was buried in the same way, at a different spot, police said.
The police are also probing whether the woman's family was aware of the pregnancies and births.