Nedumangad child murder case: Kerala HC registers suo motu petition to probe child abuse and failure of welfare system

The Kerala High Court has registered a suo motu petition to inquire into child protection against serious cases of domestic violence and the breakdown of child protection alerts.

The petition was taken up by a bench of Chief Justice Soumen Sen and Justice Syama Kumar VM on Wednesday in the wake of the alleged torture and murder of an 18-month-old child at Nedumangadu in Thiruvananthapuram. The court also directed the state to inform about the steps taken in the investigation of the case.

The court verbally inquired about the reasons for the “inaction” of the district child protector despite the information about the alleged abuse from the child’s grandmother.

When the motion was initiated, the court considered two cases of reported child abuse.

The immediate trigger for the petition was the torture and death of a one-and-a-half-year-old child in Nedumangad who suffered over 90 internal and external injuries. Although the child was brought to hospitals for broken bones before his death, the nursing staff never reported or reported systematic trauma, according to the public interest litigation (PIL).

The court sought to establish strict, binding protocols linking law enforcement, medical facilities, and child welfare workers to provide a framework for mandatory reporting of suspected child abuse.

Published – 17 Jun 2026 13:25 IST