Kerala court sentences woman to life for murdering newborn

A court in Thodupuzha, Kerala, has sentenced a woman named Rosemary to life imprisonment for the murder of her newborn son in 2014. The court found that the accused strangled the infant by applying pressure to his neck before leaving him wrapped in a bedsheet and placed on a plastic cover near a cattle shed adjoining her house.

The infant was discovered alive by a local teenager and was initially taken to the Marayoor Primary Health Centre. Despite medical efforts, the child succumbed to his injuries later that day. Medical evidence and a postmortem examination confirmed the child was born alive and died due to blunt-force injuries to the neck, which doctors ruled could not have resulted from a normal delivery or a fall.

Although the accused initially denied the child was hers, DNA evidence and medical testimony established her as the biological mother. Witnesses also noted she had bloodstains on her clothing following the birth. The court concluded the killing was a deliberate act of murder under Section 302 of the IPC.