Man Poisons Young Children After Wife Remarries; 5-Year-Old Dead, Sibling Critical

A 36-year-old man in India poisoned his two children and consumed the same substance after his estranged wife married another person.

The murder-suicide took place in the northern state of Punjab. The children - aged 6 and 5 - and their father were found unconscious near a village pond Tuesday night, Tribune India reported. The three were rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared the father and daughter dead. The 6-year-old son was critical and battling for his life.

The police said the man, identified as Jaspreet Singh, took the step after his wife, Amandeep Kaur, shared pictures of her second marriage on social media. Singh and Kaur got married eight years ago, but she left him and the kids two years ago. Both their families tried to help them work out the marriage, but they did not get back together. However, they did not legally divorce.

According to local media, the woman remarried a few days ago.

“Her husband was depressed and shocked at this, and consumed poison. Before doing this, he also gave poison to his two children,” a police source told the Hindustan Times.

Singh's father told the police his son did not want a divorce because of his children, even though his wife pressured him to end the marriage. Her marriage to another man left Singh shattered, forcing him to take the extreme step, his father added.

A case has been registered at a police station in the area where Singh lived.

Last month, a father tried to kill his children by feeding them poison-laced ice cream after a heated argument with his wife. The incident took place in the western state of Maharashtra.

The man took his children on an outing on the pretext of buying them ice cream and laced it with poison. The children – two boys and one girl – fell sick after consuming the ice cream. One child died, while the other two survived.