Chennai: Poverty-stricken woman poisons two children, attempts to kill self

Chennai: A 29-year-old woman allegedly poisoned her two children and attempted suicide at her residence in Maduravoyal on Tuesday night. Preliminary investigation indicates that the move was triggered by extreme poverty, police said.

According to police, Shailaja (29) who lived in an apartment in Alapakkam Ganapathi Nagar in Maduravoyal killed her daughter Sri Lakshmi (4) and son Adhiseshan (2) by poisoning their food. Police said the woman also consumed poison, but was rescued.

Police said that Shibi Raj (38), a cinema financer and Shailaja's husband, died of renal failure two months ago. The family had mounting debts and since Shibi Raj was the only breadwinner of the family, Shailaja allegedly mixed poison in the children's food and killed them.

The incident came to light after Shibiraj's friend, Junaid from Kerala visited the house on Wednesday morning to see the family. He found the door locked from inside and peeked through the window to find the children and Shailaja lying unconscious. With the help of the neighbours, he broke open the door and rushed the trio to the Kilpauk government hospital where the children were declared dead on arrival. Their bodies were sent for post mortem. However, Shailaja is out of danger and is undergoing treatment at the Rajiv Gandhi government hospital.

Maduravoyal police registered a case and charged Shailaja with the murder of her two daughters. Further investigations are on.