The rape of a two-and-a-half-year-old girl and her death by asphyxiation at the hands of her mother’s partner in December 2025 was almost buried but for a chance inquiry on the case status by a medical officer, who performed the autopsy on the victim.
Two months later, a casual query by the medical officer on the status of the case with the new station inspector of Anchetty police station brought to light an ignored postmortem report, which was filed away by the outgoing investigating officer in the week following the crime.
On December 11, 2025, the girl from Anchetty was brought dead to Anchetty government hospital by her mother, with the complaint of fits. The child’s body was handed over to the mother, who had separated from her husband in Tiruvannamalai and returned to her maternal home in Anchetty, where she married the accused, Periyanayagam, a local DMK functionary.
On learning about the death, the father arrived from Tiruvannamalai and lodged a complaint against his estranged wife, her mother, and Periyanayagam.
The victim’s body was sent to Krishnagiri Government Medical College Hospital the same night, and an inquest and post-mortem was completed the following day (December 12). Sources told The Hindu that subsequently, the then investigating officer of Anchetty Station, Sumithra, was informed of the possibility of sexual assault. The post-mortem report (available with The Hindu) reported asphyxiation and multiple injuries, and was handed over to the police the same week.
