Woman held for killing five-month-old son in Thane

The police, after finding the body in a drum near the home, were tipped off that the boy used to fall ill frequently and suspected the mother

A day after the body of a five-month-old boy was found in a water-filled drum in Kalwa of Thane district, the police on Sunday arrested the infant's mother and charged her with murder and disappearance of evidence, an official said.

The boy's relatives told police the boy was kidnapped on Friday afternoon from their Mahatma Phule Nagar home, after which Kalwa police formed several teams to crack the case. However, on Saturday morning, the infant's body was found in a water-filled plastic drum near his home.

"We checked the CCTV footage of the area and questioned people, including the child's kin. We got a tip-off that the child used to fall ill frequently and it was his mother Shantabai Chavan who used to give him medicines. However, on Friday she accidentally gave him a high dose, which left the child dead," Assistant Commissioner of Police Venkat Andale told PTI.

"She cooked up a story about the child being kidnapped on Friday afternoon and then put the body inside the water-filled drum on Saturday morning. She has confessed to the crime. Kalwa police is probing further," the ACP said.

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