Chennai: Expressing heartbreak over the tragic news of the death of one-and-a-half year old toddler Arshid in Panavoor in Kerala, one of the country's iconic singers K S Chithra has expressed a wish for such cruel incidents never to happen ever again.

Taking to her X timeline to pen her thoughts on the demise of the poor child whose body was found to have sustained 51 injuries, K S Chithra wrote, "The news of the passing of Arshid Mon, who was merely one-and-a-half years old, is heart-wrenching. It unsettles the mind. Fear arises."

She went on to say, "May such cruel incidents never happen again, may human society renew itself. Prayers alone!"

For the unaware, toddler Arshid was reportedly brought to a hospital where doctors declared the child dead. The child's step-father Ashkar had claimed the child had choked on food and lost consciousness.

However, a post-mortem revealed that the child had been subjected to severe torture and abuse for days together. The post-mortem also established the fact that the child had died from internal bleeding caused by sustained beatings. A total of 51 wounds were found on the child's body.

Police arrested the child's mother Akhila and his step-father Ashkar and produced them in court, where they were remanded to judicial custody. Ashkar had reportedly confessed to the police of his decision to kill Arshid three months ago, as he had viewed the child a hindrance to his relationship with the child's mother Akhila. The child's mother had allegedly confessed that she had seen Ashkar beat her son but that she did not make any effort to protect the child. The child's biological father had reportedly committed suicide a couple of years ago, when Akhila was three months pregnant. The incident has caused widespread shock and sparked outrage in Kerala. (IANS)