Couple held for torturing adopted child

Tiruchirapalli, Apr 2: Police have arrested a couple for allegedly torturing their two-and-a-half-year-old adopted son here. The police said V Shankar (32) and S Latha (28) of Gandhinagar in Tiruverumbur, adopted the child when Gurunathan, the father of the child, residing in the same area handed over the toddler to them due to abject poverty last year.

Acting on a tip-off by Childline, the city-based 24-hour helpline working for children in distress, the police arrested them yesterday.

Childline authorities, who visited the house of the couple after receiving a telephonic alert from the public a few days ago, found injury marks on the child's hands, thighs and organs.

The couple, however, attributed the injuries to boils caused by heat. No sooner did the Childline coordinators left the spot, the couple escaped with the child.

A team led by a woman Deputy Superintendent of Police managed to nab Shankar. Latha, who had possession of the child subsequently surrendered.

While Shankar and Latha were remanded to judicial custody, the child was temporarily handed over to the Childline, police said.

UNI