Mother Held After Admitting to Killing Two Children in Palakkad
According to the initial version, the children were playing while their mother was busy with household work
Palakkad: The mother of two young children, who were initially believed to have drowned accidentally in a water tank at their home near Kozhinjampara, was taken into custody after she admitted to killing them, a police source said here.
The source said the woman, Nivedya, initially admitted to committing the crime after family members raised suspicions over the deaths of the children.
The deceased were five-year-old Jennifer Juliet and her three-year-old brother Robin Christopher, the children of John Kumar and Nivedya.
They were found inside a concrete water tank at their rented house at Koorankad near Menonpara on Tuesday morning.
According to the initial version, the children were playing while their mother was busy with household work.
After noticing that they were missing, she searched for them and found them inside the water tank.
They were rushed to a nearby hospital but could not be saved. Police had initially registered a case of unnatural death and suspected accidental drowning.
However, doubts were later raised over how two children could have drowned together in the relatively small tank, which was not fully filled with water. Family members and neighbours questioned whether the children could have climbed into the tank on their own.
Questions over the circumstances in which both children ended up in the tank prompted police to examine the incident from other angles.
The children's father, John Kumar, said there had been no major problems between him and his wife and that he had not initially suspected her of harming the children.
The police source said she had admitted to committing the crime and that they were questioning the mother and examining the circumstances leading to the children's deaths.
However, the exact circumstances and motive behind the alleged act have not yet been established.
Police are also examining whether there were any family issues or other circumstances that could have led to the incident.
The possibility of any external influence or provocation is also being looked into, sources said.
