Child's killing: Close relative arrested after post-mortem reveals sexual abuse

Kochi | The killing of a three-year-old girl Kalyani, allegedly by her mother earlier this week, turned out to be a horrific case of sexual abuse on Thursday, with the police arresting a close relative in connection with it.

Police said the post-mortem report had revealed that the girl was subjected to sexual abuse, and subsequent investigation led to the arrest of her 36-year-old paternal uncle.

His arrest was recorded and he was produced before a court, which remanded him to judicial custody.

The girl's mother had already been arrested for allegedly throwing the child into the river.

Police sources said they were also investigating the circumstances that led the mother to kill her daughter.

She is currently in police custody as part of the investigation into the case, they said.

A senior police officer said the girl had allegedly been subjected to sexual abuse for some time.

The sequence of events leading up to the killing began when the girl was picked up by her mother from an anganwadi in Mattakuzhy in Ernakulam district on Monday. She was later reported missing.

A search was launched on Monday night after the family lodged a complaint.

Her body was found in the early hours of Tuesday during a search operation conducted by a scuba diving team.