Man Kills Infant, Barely 2-Years-Old, By Drowning Her In A Bucket Of Water

A man allegedly killed his girlfriend's granddaughter by drowning the newborn in a bucket of water in Kochi, Kerala, India on Tuesday, March. 8.

The accused, identified as Benoy John Decruz, 28, the boyfriend of the victim's paternal grandmother Sipsy, 50, has been arrested after he reportedly killed the one-year-old infant Norah Maria by drowning her in a bucket of water at a lodge at Kochi, Kerala in the early hours of Tuesday, March. 8, the Times Of India reported.

The deceased Norah Maria, daughter of Sajeev of Angamaly, was only one year and eight months old. The accused was reportedly staying with Sipsy, along with her two grandchildren, Maria, and another five-year-old elder child, at a lodge. However, Sipsy left the room on Monday night, leaving the children in Binoy's care.

After drowning the infant to death, Binoy alerted the grandmother at around 2 a.m. and told her that the toddler had choked on milk fed from a bottle and was lying unconscious.

Sipsy rushed to the scene and transported the baby to a nearby hospital for treatment, but the newborn was pronounced dead upon arrival. After the hospital authorities informed the police about the infant's death, the authorities initially registered a case of unnatural death. However, the baby's autopsy report later revealed that the small child died due to drowning, the Hindu reported.

Following this, the officers took Binoy into custody. When the authorities questioned him regarding the child's death, he confessed to killing the child out of resentment towards Sipsy.

“The accused and the woman were reportedly in a relation, and he wanted to leave her. The woman did not take kindly to it. She used to go to his workplace and home with the toddler,” North police officers said.

The officers have not arraigned Sipsy as an accused on the grounds that she seemed unaware of the alleged murder. However, the officers said that they have not given her a clean chit and that they have launched a detailed investigation into the incident to find further details about the alleged murder.

Since the infant's mother is abroad, the baby was in the care of Maria's father. Incidentally, the children's custody had come up before the Child Welfare Committee after both the parents traded allegations that the children were not safe in each other's care.