Girl, 3, found dead in pond

Chennai, Jan. 28: The body of three-year-old girl was fished out from a pond near Sriperumbudur on Friday. The police is conducting investigations to find out if it was a murder or an accidental death.Police said, the girl Abhinaya, who was playing outside her grandfathers house in Panchalampatti village went missing around 7 pm on Tuesday.Later, her grandfather Dilli, 60, lodged a complaint with the police who traced the body to a pond near his house.Abhinayas mother Hema and father Kumarasamy of Kodungaiyur had left the child in her grandfathers care a few days ago after she fell ill, a police officer said. On Tuesday, the child, who was playing with a few other children, went missing after a power cut. The grandfather searched for her a while. When he could not find her, he informed the police.Meanwhile, a few passersby found the body of the girl and alerted the police. The body was fished out and sent for a post-mortem to a government hospital in Sriperumbudur. There were no injuries on the body and the post-mortem report revealed that she had died of asphyxiation due to drowning, the officer said. But her gold chain and an anklet were found missing and an investigation is on to find out if someone could have pushed the girl into the pond after taking her valuables, the officer said.

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