Muthuvel
Madurai: A woman allegedly tried to conceal the death of a seven-year-old boy, accidentally strangled by her 10-year-old son during play, by shifting the body to an abandoned house near Madurai. The deceased, Muthuvel, son of Periyakaruppan and Sathya, left home around 11 am on Sunday to play near Adaikkalam Kaatha Amman temple but failed to return, according to police. Police found that the deceased and a 10-year-old boy from the neighbourhood had been playing near the temple when the older boy allegedly tightened a rope around Muthuvel’s neck in what investigators described as a playful act.
As relatives and villagers were unable to trace him, his mother lodged a missing complaint with Keelavalavu police, who registered a case and launched a search.
Police said Muthuvel collapsed there in the presence of the boy’s mother, Sandhiya. Instead of alerting police or rushing him to the hospital, the woman allegedly moved the body to a dilapidated, unoccupied house to shield her son from the consequences. The minor was produced before Juvenile Justice Board, and his mother, Sandhiya arrested and remanded in judicial custody for attempting to destroy evidence.
Madurai district police formed five special teams comprising around 90 personnel and conducted an overnight search. The boy’s body was eventually found around 10.45 am on Monday inside an abandoned house belonging to a villager, Rajangam. Police sent the body to Government Rajaji Hospital for post-mortem and commenced investigation.