5-Year-Old Child, 40-Day-Old Baby Killed By Mother In Alleged Murder-Suicide Incident

A 5-year-old child and her toddler brother were allegedly killed by their mother, who then hanged herself inside their home in India.

The incident took place Sunday morning when the woman's husband, identified as Arvind, went out to buy milk from a nearby market, The Times of India reported. When he returned home, he saw his wife and 5-year-old daughter hanging from a railing, while his 40-day-old son was found unresponsive on a bed inside the room.

The police in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh identified the woman as Priya Dahiya. The family said the 40-day-old child's naming ceremony was scheduled in the next few days.

While the husband supported the murder-suicide theory, the woman's family alleged foul play in the case.

“Initial investigation revealed that Priya had used a rope to strangle their son, who was lying on the bed in the room. After that, she hanged her daughter from the room’s iron railing and then used a dupatta (piece of cloth) to hang herself from the same railing,” police officer Atul Sonkar told The Times of India.

Priya's husband rushed the three to a hospital, where they were declared dead. The police said Arvind was absconding the next day, but was later found in an unconscious state near the hospital where the bodies of his wife and children were kept.

"He has been admitted at GTB hospital and is not in a condition to speak due to depression. We will interrogate once his condition improves," Sonkar reportedly said, adding the bodies of the victims have been sent for an autopsy.

The police said after his family was declared dead, Arvind rang up his elder brother Amit to narrate the incident, and told him that he too was going to end his life. Amit then informed the police, following which Arvind was located near the hospital Monday morning.

The motive behind the alleged murder-suicide remains unclear, but the police said the cause could be a family dispute.

"We also came to know that Arvind had an illicit relation with a woman for which Priya had always opposed. It was around two years ago that Arvind had thrashed Priya over dowry demanded and she stayed at her maternal house for nearly a month. We suspected foul play behind the incident and demand police to investigate the matter," a relative of Priya told the Millennium Post.

An investigation is currently underway into the incident.