In a startling development, Sini Mathews, the adoptive mother of 3-year-old Sherin Mathews, whose body was recovered on 22 October, was arrested by Richardson police in Texas.
Sini Mathews has been charged with 'Abandoning or Endangering a Child', which is a state felony, and her bond has been set at $2,50,000.
The arrest follows a statement made by Wesley Mathews, the adoptive father of Sherin Mathews, who had been arrested earlier for causing injury to the child.
Wesley Mathews told the police that he and his wife had gone out for dinner on 6 October with only their 4-year-old biological child, a day before Sherin Mathews disappeared.
The couple had left Sherin Mathews alone at home.
Media reports suggest that the arrest currently is not in connection with Sherin Mathews' death, but the police will investigate whether the couple had neglected their adopted child.
Sini and Wesley, natives of Kerala, had adopted Sherin from an orphanage in Bihar in July 2016.
They had left the toddler at home without any adult supervision, exposing her to any kind of danger at home.
Sherin Mathews had disappeared on 7 October and her father had first claimed that he had sent her out in the wee hours of the morning as punishment for not drinking her milk.
After days of frantic search, little Sherin's body was recovered from a culvert under a road, around one kilometer from her home in suburban Dallas on 22 October.
Wesley then changed his statement and said that Sherin had choked on her milk, and had stopped breathing. Thinking that she was dead, he removed her body from their home.
Sherin was a child with developmental issues and the American adoption agency submitted four follow-up reports to Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA). These reports observed that although Sherin was "safe and comfortable" at her new home, the parents found it difficult to feed the child.
The couple have a four-year-old biological daughter who had been taken away by Child Protective Services (CPS), soon after Sherin’s disappearance.
Sini Mathews had been fighting to get custody of her biological child, and had appeared in court on Monday.
However, with Sini Mathews too getting arrested for endangering Sherin's life, the question remains if CPS would hand over the child to any family member.
Wesley Mathews is still in Dallas County jail on a $1 million bond.
(This article was first published on The News Minute and has been republished with permission)
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