Pune: Month after dumping body, mother held in murder of 11-month-old

“On April 5, Pooja’s husband, Ravindra Ashok Pawar had approached the police and had reported that Pooja had left home with Yash on March 8 and had not returned home. Since Pooja had left home in a similar manner in the past for a few days, the husband did not immediately approach the police. But after four weeks had passed since she left home this time, he reported the mother and child’s disappearance,” said Inspector Mahadev Waghmode in-charge of Ranjangaon police station.

As police launched a probe, they traced Pooja to Jambut village in Shirur within a few hours of launching the investigation. As cops questioned her about the child, she said the child had fallen from a platform and sustained a head injury on March 8. She told the police she was in a state of shock and was very frightened so she dumped the body in a well. Subsequently, the decomposed body was taken out and an inquest examination and autopsy was conducted on the spot in the presence of officials.

Speaking to media on Tuesday, Deputy Superintendent of Police Prashant Dhole said, “The investigation team led by Inspector Waghmode started probing various angles around the death of the 11-month-old. During her questioning, the woman confessed to having killed her child. Investigation revealed that the current marriage was her second marriage and she had been having frequent disputes with her husband. She wanted to get married again. She believed that having a child would be an obstacle for that. She has said that the child had been continuously crying and she had been agitated because of that. She said that she murdered her child on March 8 by hitting her head against a platform made out of stone.”

DYSP Dhole added, “In order to destroy the evidence, the woman kept the child’s body in a bag in which she also kept large rocks. She then threw the bag in a well in Bhambarde. The woman was placed under arrest on Monday.” A court has remanded the woman to police custody till April 10 after she was produced before the court on Tuesday.