Woman throws son into well, kills self

A 32-year-old woman in Tamil Nadu’s Namakkal district threw her six-month-old son into a well on Monday night and jumped after him as she was unable to pay for the child’s treatment, who was suffering from suspected dengue.

P Anbukodi and her husband Perisaswamy, a barber, of Belukurichi village took their child to a private hospital in Salem on Monday morning after he fell ill. After some tests, the hospital confirmed he was suffering from dengue and presented a huge bill that worked out to ₹5,000 per day.

Periyasamy and Anbukodi returned to Belukuruchi with their son around 11pm on Monday as they could not afford the treatment. At around 3.30am, Perisaswamy found his wife and child missing and it was only in the morning that his neighbours found their bodies in the well near their house, police said.

The fire and rescue department personnel retrieved the bodies, which were sent to Rasipuram government hospital for post-mortem. Police registered a case and further probe is on.

The tragic case highlights the urgency to tackle the disease that has claimed 27 lives in Tamil Nadu so far.

The state’s public health system is overwhelmed as the number of people suffering from the viral infection that is spread by the bite of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito is increasing.

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