Mother strangles speech-impaired toddler daughter to death in Bengaluru, surrenders

The accused was allegedly afraid of her daughter growing up as an autistic child as she had problems with speech development, an officer investigating the case told DH.

Bengaluru: A 35-year-old woman allegedly strangled her daughter at their house in South Bengaluru’s Subramanyapura on Thursday. The three-year-and-ten-month-old child was speech impaired, police said.

The mother, Ramya Venkatesh, allegedly used a veil to strangle her daughter, Preetika. The Subramanyapura police arrested Ramya after filing an FIR, charging her with murder.

The incident happened around 12.30 pm on Thursday. Preetika has a twin sister. 

An officer investigating the case said Ramya was afraid her daughter would grow up to be autistic due to speech development issues. Ramya did not harm Preetika's twin, the officer added.

The officer revealed that after Ramya strangled the baby, she became anxious when the child's movements ceased. She promptly rushed the baby to a nearby hospital, where doctors pronounced the child dead on arrival.

Following this, Ramya contacted her brother-in-law and went to the police station to surrender. The FIR was filed after Ramya's brother-in-law lodged a complaint with the police.

Ramya and her two daughters reside in a flat located in a private apartment complex in Manjunatha Nagar, under the jurisdiction of the Subramanyapura police station. She had been employed at a private company until a few months ago, but decided to quit her job to stay at home and care for her twins.

Police said Venkatesh, Ramya’s husband, works as a software engineer with a private company in Norway.

"The body has been sent for post-mortem, and the report is awaited. Meanwhile, the mother has been arrested and subject to questioning," the investigator told DH, adding that they visited the crime scene for preliminary investigations. 

The officer said Ramya has to be questioned further to get more clarity about the case. They will further ascertain and verify all her statements.