A Newborn Abandoned in a Heap of Leaves, the Mystery Behind is Unthinkable
Wait for the twist
Sudarshanan Pillai’s modest house is in the middle of a rubber plantation in a South Indian village. Mr. Pillai’s nuclear family consists of his wife, son, and daughter-in-law.
On January 5th, 2021, the family heard a muffled cry from their backyard. When they went and looked, they found a newborn baby abandoned in a heap of leaves.
The family informed the authorities, and in a matter of few minutes, the Police, concerned agencies, and ward members were swarming the place. The baby was transferred to a hospital but soon passed away.
The cause of death: leaves and dust in the baby’s tiny lungs.
So, who left a newborn to the vicissitudes of nature? The cops wanted answers, and they had an idea.
The police trick
Since the baby was alive when found, Police theorized that his mother must be someone living in close proximity. It was possible that a distraught and helpless mother, with no means to bring up a child, might have left the infant, hoping that someone would protect the baby.
But who could that be?
The Police assembled all the young ladies in the neighborhood and started interrogating them.
But here is their trick: the cops didn’t do a usual interview on either side of a table but made the ladies walk through the Sudarshan Pillai’s vast rubber plantation.
The idea was that whoever had given birth to a baby must be tired, and therefore, long walks through the plot would be difficult for them. So, Police could narrow down the list of suspects to the women who showed real exhaustion.
As ingenious as the idea was, it still didn’t work. Apparently, all the women did reasonably well in this ‘walking’ challenge.
The DNA test
The investigative officers then took the scientific route, collecting blood samples of suspects and matching them with the baby’s blood. The result came out months later and was shocking.
The mother who pulled off this heinous act was none other than Reshma! The 22-year-old daughter-in-law of Sudarshanan Pillai.
The whole plot of accidentally finding the baby was a charade she had pulled over. The newborn was her flesh and blood. It was her husband Vishnu’s child.
The pregnancy that nobody knew
Here is the question that’s popping in your head right now: If Reshma was pregnant, didn’t the other members of the family notice it? How come she managed to hide her bump for so long, especially from her husband?
It does sound impossible, but it is indeed the truth. The girl had devised ingenious tricks to cloak the fact she was carrying in her womb.
Reshma was a slim girl and purposefully wore oversized dresses with a tight belt to hide her bump. She didn’t visit a hospital even once and had carefully avoided all sorts of physical contact with her husband.
Also, she made no compromises with her daily chores, diligently doing her duties and not giving a sniff to anybody around.
Reshma was the only person who knew that she was carrying. But then, why did she choose to leave her baby?
Why did Reshma abandon her kid?
Once the DNA results were out, it took no time for the Police to make Reshma spill the secrets.
As it turns out, Reshma had a lover named Ananthu. It was to live her dream life with Ananthu that Reshma decided to walk away from a life of motherhood. She was no longer interested in living with her husband, Vishnu.
From what some media gathered, Vishnu-Reshma had a love affair that culminated in their marriage. Where did all that love vanish? I don’t know! Now, who is this Ananthu? Where did the lovers meet?
If you think it’s some long-lost nostalgic college romance, it’s not. Ananthu is Reshma’s Facebook friend, and she had not even once met him! I mean, the guy didn’t even show himself on a video call. He was a complete ghost that existed in cyber space.
It was imperative for Police to zero in on Ananthu because he is as involved as Reshma in the crime. The search ensued in connection with the sim cards Reshma was using.
Reshma’s sim belonged to Arya, her cousin. So the cops issued a notice to Arya to turn up for questioning.
The mysterious disappearance
A day after the summons, Arya, the cousin, and Greeshma- the daughter of Reshma’s sister-in-law- went missing. Both were thick friends too. Arya was a homemaker, a mother of a 5-year-old, while Greeshma was a student of the Business Administration.
Where did they go?
Police managed to find a CCTV visual of the two girls walking together, not far from their house. In the investigation that followed, their bodies were found in the Ithikkara river. They both had committed suicide.
The twist
Ananthu was a character that sprang from the fictional and imaginative minds of both Greeshma and Arya! Reshma’s lover never existed, except on Facebook, and it was one long prank the two girls were pulling on Reshma.
Police got information about their terrible misuse of social media from Greeshma’s friend. Arya had also confessed to her mother-in-law.
When Arya and Greeshma were filled with fears and possibly regret, they decided to end their lives.
Arya and Greeshma committed suicide by jumping into the Ithikkara river.
Greeshma’s suicide letter
Before ending her life, Greeshma had written a note, and here is its English translation:
“I didn’t wish to cheat anyone purposefully. But I had no idea that she(Reshma) was so malicious. I only wished for their peaceful life. Please look after my son. I wanted to live many more years with my husband. But I cannot even think about being arrested in connection with the death of a baby. Please forgive us.”
To sum up
This unfortunate incident has wreaked multiple families.
Two women and a baby had to die, and one young woman will probably serve a sentence. Three men lost their wives. Then there are the other members of the family, baffled and worried at the incredible turn of events. All of this because two girls had pulled off a weird social media prank.
And then there is Reshma, who pinned her hopes on an unseen lover and was callous enough to let a baby into a heap of leaves.
Another Twist?
After being arrested, Reshma was tested positive for Covid. She was left in an isolation ward for a week or so, without access to a newspaper or TV. So, even while the whole state of Kerala learned the secrets about her mysterious lover, Reshma believed in the guy and perhaps hoped that he would turn up.
When finally interrogated, Reshma made a surprising revelation: She had a lover; someone she had actually met. This guy goes by the name Bilal and is involved in a few crimes.
So, did she chat with the conjured Ananthu assuming that it’s her Bilal? If so, could Greeshma and Arya have gotten away with minor charges? Did they commit suicide for nothing?
Two people who could have answered all these questions- Greeshma and Arya are no more. What we know for sure is that both of them had executed a vicious prank on Reshma; whether Reshma assumed Ananthu as her ex-lover Bilal or a new lover is still a mystery.
Here are two more bizarre stories from the same part of India:
https://readmedium.com/murder-or-suicide-vismayas-dowry-death-will-shock-you-893e2d77c3e0
https://readmedium.com/a-girl-hid-in-her-boyfriends-room-for-freaking-ten-years-5d32aa9ff79e
