Tanur (Malappuram): The officials on Thursday morning exhumed the body of a 3-day-old infant who was drowned to death by his mother, Jumailth, and buried near a coconut tree in her house compound. 

The body was dug out under the supervision of Tanur's Tehsildar, DySP V. V. Benny and the Forensic department. In her statement to the police, Jumailath said she gave birth to a baby boy on 26 February at Kozhikode Medical College. 

After the birth, she returned home and killed the baby by drowning him in a bucket full of water. Following this, she buried the body in her home compound. She committed the crime while her mother lay asleep in the same house. The murdered infant was her 4th child.

Investigation began when the police received a message from an anonymous source about the murder. They reached the location and took Jumailath into custody, and the accused confessed to the crime during a subsequent probe.

The reason behind this crime remains unclear, but it appears that Jumailath, who had severed ties with her husband, killed the baby out of fear of being shamed by society. The body of the baby will undergo an autopsy.