Woman arrested for pushing child into shrimp tank

A woman has been arrested in the Udappuwa ara for throwing her 18 month year old child into a shrimp tank after a dispute with her husband, Police said.

The wife of a labourer  working in a shrimp farm in Kattakaduwa area of Uduppuwa had pushed the child into the tank and pretended that the child had gone missing.

However an employee working at the same shrimp farm had seen the child struggling in the shrimp tank and pulled out the child.

The  rescued child was immediately admitted to the Puttalam Base Hospital and then transferred to the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital.

The spokesperson of the Kurunegala Teaching Hospital said the child's condition has been turning around. Police investigations have confirmed that the woman who pushed the child into the shrimp tank had a family dispute with her husband for some time.

The concerned woman is identified as a resident of Kobeigane area and when the related family dispute was presented to the Kobeigane police, the two were instructed to live peacefully with the child.

However, the woman  said that while she was living with her husband and child in a shack at Kattakaduwa shrimp farm, she had an   argument with her husband  few days ago. She said she pushed the child into the shrimp tank to take revenge on her husband.

The 20-year-old mother of one was arrested by the Udappuwa police and was due to be produced in the Puttalam court in connection with the incident.

A CCTV camera fixed in the vicinity had captured the pictures of the woman bringing the child close to the tank and then pushing the child, before walking away.