The Venjaramoodu police on Friday recorded the arrest of the toddler’s mother for allegedly murdering the child at their home near Vamanapuram a day ago.

The police arrested Aswathi for the alleged murder of her daughter, one-year-old Pavithra, at Kanichode. The woman reportedly confessed to strangling the child.

The child was found dead at her maternal home in Kanichode. The incident came to light when the child’s grandmother returned home from her work under the MGNREGS. While she initially believed the infant was sleeping, she panicked when the child failed to respond to her touch. The child was later brought dead to a nearby hospital.

The presence of marks on the toddler’s neck shifted focus to the possibility of murder. Soon, Aswathi allegedly admitted to the crime. The autopsy report later confirmed the death to be due to strangulation.

According to the police, Aswathi is known to have been struggling with postpartum depression since the birth of her second child and had become increasingly withdrawn. The police said the primary motive behind the crime could have been Aswathi’s obsessive fear that the child had autism.

Despite a medical check-up at a hospital in Thiruvananthapuram two weeks ago which confirmed the child was healthy and showed no signs of illness, Aswathi remained unconvinced, the police added.

Aswathi and her husband Subhash also have an eight-year-old child.