Bengaluru, 12 June

A 39-year-old woman advocate has been arrested, days after she and her live-in partner were booked on charges of murdering her five-year old daughter, police said on Friday.

Priyanka was arrested from a homestay in Sakleshpur on Thursday, they said.

Following lapses in the investigation, three police officials -- an inspector, a sub-inspector, and a constable -- have currently been placed under suspension, police said.

Her live-in partner and the prime accused, Mohan G, was arrested earlier, soon after an FIR was registered against the complaint of the girl's father, following which both Priyanka and Mohan were booked on charges of murder, police said.

The child, Vennela, was found dead on 25 March this year, police said.

Following the case registered on June 4 at Kadugodi police station, Priyanka fled Bengaluru. She initially travelled to Mysuru before shifting to Sakleshpur in an attempt to evade arrest, they added.

During the interrogation, Mohan allegedly confessed to killing the child by assaulting and smothering her inside the car. Priyanka has been taken into custody for questioning about the circumstances leading to the child's death, the motive behind the murder, and if she was also part of the conspiracy, a senior police officer said.

They are also probing if Priyanka's alleged dissatisfaction with her daughter's complexion may have been a factor in the motive behind the murder, he said.

Speaking to reporters here, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh said that in the investigation of this entire matter, some lapses have been noticed, according to the report of our senior officers.

"There were some investigation lapses. We have taken action against those responsible for those lapses. A report has been received regarding the matter, and we have acted based on that report. The intention certainly may not have been proper. That is why this situation has arisen, and we have taken action. We have to examine it further," he said.

The IO (Investigating Officer) has now been changed, and the investigation has been entrusted to an ACP-level officer from a different division, he added.

Meanwhile, Home Minister Priyank Kharge said that on 4 April, when the post-mortem report was received, they (police) should have treated it as a suspicious death and subjected the case to further investigation.

"Instead, the PSI registered it as a UDR (Unnatural Death Report) and kept it at his own level without proceeding further. That was a mistake and was against the law. Therefore, we suspended three personnel this morning -the Police Inspector, the Sub-Inspector, and the Constable. There were certain lapses on their part. We will continue the investigation," he told reporters here.

According to the complaint, the girl's father alleged that Priyanka gave contradictory versions of the events leading to Vennela's death, and the post-mortem report further raised suspicion.

The complainant stated that while Priyanka initially told him that the child had eaten biryani on the night of March 24 and was found dead the following morning, she later claimed that Vennela had been left asleep in an air-conditioned car while she and Mohan celebrated her birthday at a cafe in Kolar, and was found dead the next day after being taken home.

Suspecting that the accused had intentionally killed the child and attempted to destroy evidence, he approached the police and lodged a complaint, police said, adding that further investigation is underway.