Death of minor due to illness, not after being beaten up: Police

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Kollam (Kerala): The four-year-old girl who died en route hospital, after being suspected to have been beaten up by her mother, was apparently suffering from pneumonia and meningitis according to the police. They've rejected beating as the cause of the death.

"The initial reports that the child died after being beaten up by her mother was not right. The autopsy of the child showed signs of pneumonia and meningitis," the Investigating Officer said.

The mother, a former nurse, was questioned by the police due to the initial suspicion of beating and was released later.

Police said the marks on the body of the child, which was suspected to be caused due to assault, was not the reason for the death.

Sources close to the family said the child was already ill.

"She showed some illness and we took her to the hospital," a relative of the family told the media.

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