In a gruesome incident, a paternal aunt strangled a 4-year-old boy to death at their house at Vannamada near Kozhinjampara in this district on Monday night.

Later, the accused attempted to commit suicide by cutting her wrist vein and was admitted to Thrissur Medical College with grievous injuries.

According to police, the deceased was identified as Ritvik, a pre-KG student of St. Francis English medium school at Karuvapara and the son of Madhusoodhanan and Athira residing at Vannamada.

Police said Deepthi (29), the wife of Madhusoodhanan's elder brother Balakrishnan, strangled the victim to death around 2200 hrs, when all the family members went out to a nearby hospital for the treatment of Madhusoodhanan's mother, Padmavathi.

Some of the family members returned home from the hospital and found that the door to the house was locked.

They forcibly opened the door and found that the child was lying in an unconscious state, and Deepthi was lying in a pool of blood around 2230 hrs.

The local residents rushed both of them to a nearby hospital at Nattukal, but doctors declared the child dead, and Deepthi was shifted to Thrissur Medical College after the first aid.

It is reported that Deepthi is having some mental health issues and is undergoing medical treatment.

Kozhinjapara police registered a case for unnatural death, and the investigation is ongoing.

(With UNI inputs)