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A 26-year-old woman allegedly threw her six-year-old disabled son into a crocodile infested river at Dandeli taluk in Uttara Kannada district following a quarrel with her husband, police said on Sunday.
The couple often fought with each other over the condition of their elder son, who is speech-disabled since birth. They have another two-year-old son, they said.
Savitri's husband Ravi Kumar (27) used to frequently quarrel with her over elder son's disability and questioned her as to why she gave birth to such a child. On certain occasions, he used to allegedly tell her to "throw the child away", police said.
According to the police, following a fight over the same matter on Saturday evening, frustrated Savitri allegedly threw her elder son into a waste canal directly linked to the Kali river which is infested with crocodiles.
The neighbours alerted the police. They reached the spot and with the help of locals and divers, conducted a search operation to rescue the child. However, since it was dark, the police could not find the child.
On Sunday morning, the police managed to retrieve the body of the child with severe injuries, bite marks across the body and a missing hand indicating that the child was the victim of a crocodile attack, a police officer said.
The body was sent for post mortem to ascertain the exact cause of death, police said, adding a further investigation into the matter is underway.
"We have registered a case at Dandeli Rural Police station under section 109 (Abetment of any offence, if the act abetted is committed in consequence, and where no express provision is made for its punishment) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and arrested both husband and wife in connection with the incident," the officer said.