Toddler's body found in forest gorge; mother held for murder in Chhattisgarh

RAIPUR: What began as a search for a “missing” child ended in a chilling murder case in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district, with police arresting a woman accused of killing her two-and-a-half-year-old son and then allegedly trying to mislead investigators with a false abduction story.The case surfaced in Kapu police station after the body of the toddler was found in a deep gorge near Ranigauwa hill. Police said the accused woman was taken into custody and sent to judicial remand.According to the complaint lodged by the child’s father, he had left home early on April 19 to collect forest produce. At the time, his wife was at home with their two children — four-and-a-half-year-old daughter and two-and-a-half-year-old son.When he returned in the afternoon, he found the house deserted. By evening, the daughter returned alone and told him that her mother had sent her back home and gone towards her maternal home through the forest with son. Alarmed, the family and villagers began searching through the night, but found no trace of them.Police said the woman returned alone the next morning and allegedly kept evading questions about the child’s whereabouts.

For two days, relatives and villagers continued searching the forest.The breakthrough came on Saturday night when bloodstains were spotted on a stone near a mahua tree along a trail close to Ranigauwa hill. A search of the area led villagers to the body of the child lying in a gorge. Police were informed immediately and began questioning the mother on suspicion.Investigators said the woman initially tried to mislead them by claiming that some people had snatched the child and fled.

But sustained questioning, backed by circumstances and ground evidence, led to a confession, police said.According to police, the accused told them she had been on her way to her parents’ house with both children on the day of the incident. She allegedly sent her daughter back home on the way and continued with her son. During the uphill stretch, she became exhausted and asked the child to walk. When he sat down and refused to move, she allegedly attacked him in a fit of rage, causing his death on the spot, and then concealed the body before returning and spinning a false story.SSP Shashi Mohan Singh said the woman had tried to hide the body out of fear after the killing. He said she was arrested after questioning.The case has sent shockwaves through the area, with villagers struggling to come to terms with the death of the child and the circumstances in which it unfolded.