Death of minor due to illness and not after being beaten up by mother: Police

Rejecting beating as the cause of death, Kerala police said that according to the initial reports the child died due to suffering from pneumonia and meningitis.

Kollam (Kerala):The four-year-old girl who died en route hospital, after being suspected to have been beaten up by her mother, was apparently suffering from pneumonia and meningitis, police said, rejecting beating as the cause of the death.

"The initial reports that the child died after being beaten up by her mother was not right. The autopsy of the child showed signs of pneumonia and meningitis," the Investigating Officer said.

The mother, a former nurse, was questioned by the police due to the initial suspicion of beating and was released later.

Police said the marks on the body of the child, which was suspected to be caused due to assault, was not the reason for the death.

Sources close to the family said the child was already ill.

"She showed some illness and we took her to the hospital," a relative of the family told the media.

Earlier it was said that the minor assaulted allegedly by her mother in Parippally region of Kollam district in Kerala.

According to reports, the child was beaten up for refusing to have meals.

The child, who was taken to Thiruvananthapuram Medical College, was admitted to a private hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.

Also, the police revealed that the child's body bore injury marks.