Mom strangles son after social media affair

KOLKATA: A mother strangled her 14-month-old son and later confessed to the crime, saying that she did so over an extra marital affair with a youth on social media. The baby’s body was found floating in a canal beside his house at Purano Dakghar in Maheshtala on Monday morning. Police later arrested his mother.

Cops learnt that suspect Piyasa Sardar (28) had an affair with a youth whom she met on social media. Piyasa has been charged with murder under section 302 IPC.

Her in-laws alleged that they found the child missing from home soon after Sunday midnight. A missing diary was lodged with Maheshtala police around 1.30am on Monday.

Neighbours found the child’s body floating in the canal around 7am and informed police. Piyasa and her husband Saikat were summoned to the police station. During questioning, police found discrepancies in Piyasa’s statements and arrested her.

Piyasa married Saikat (35), who runs an eatery on Budge Budge Trunk Road, three years ago. Saikat’s family claimed that for the last four months the couple would quarrel frequently over Piyasa’s alleged relationship with a youth she reportedly befriended on social media. Saikat, said his family, became suspicious when he saw her spending long hours either speaking on phone or chatting on social media. He reportedly learnt that she was having these interactions with a youth.

Their neighbour Pratima Sardar alleged, “Saikat even started spending nights at his shop. Piyasa would neglect her child and often shout at him over trivial matters.” Another neighbour, Arun Majumdar, said, “We suspected her ever since the baby went missing. From her attitude and the way she was treating Saikat and her in-laws for the last few months, we suspected that she was having an affair.”

Saikat said, “She, in fact, accompanied me to the police station to lodge a complaint. She called me around 12.45am when I was at my shop. She told me| there was an emergency at home and asked me to return. When I did, she told me our child was missing and suggested we lodge a missing complaint at Maheshtala police station. After she confessed to the crime, I realised that she was acting all along — right from the phone call. She would spend almost all her time on social media chatting with a youth. They wanted my baby out of their lives.”

SP Diamond Harbour Koteswar Rao said, “Piyasa confessed during that she strangled her son. We are checking her social media accounts.”