The city witnessed another bizarre case of a mother killing her child on Monday after the recent murder of a girl child by a mother, who was a dentist. A 23-year-old home-maker allegedly killed her three-and-half-year-old daughter and tried to kill herself at her home in Gururaja Layout, of Vibhutipura Extension in Doddanekundi, near HAL.
The child has been identified as Samyukta. The mother, Gayatridevi, is undergoing treatment in a private hospital. Gayatridevi, her husband Narendran, 30, and their only child were staying in a rented second-floor apartment.
According to police, the incident came to light when Narendran returned home at around 4.30 am on Monday. He knocked on the door and when there was no response, he looked in through the window to find Gayatri hanging to a ceiling fan. He forced open the door and entered the house.
Narendran found that Gayatri was alive and untied her. He also found his daughter lying unconscious next to the bathtub. Samyukta’s face and chest were soaked in water. He rushed both of them to a nearby private hospital. The doctors declared Samyukta as brought dead.
Gayatri is in the ICU. “She is responding to the treatment and we will take her statement once the doctors give clearance,” a senior police officer said.
A senior officer said prima facie it appeared that Gayatri put Samyukta’s head in the tub and killed her. Later, she attempted to kill herself. Police said, in a note, Gayatri said she has had suicidal tendencies since childhood, but did not tell this to any one of her family members. “She decided to kill her daughter as she thought no one else would take good care of the child after her death. She has also mentioned that she doesn’t have any issues with her husband,” the officer said quoting from her note.
Gayatri, a native of Dharmapuri, married Narendran, from Erode, five years ago. Narendran works as an accountant in a real estate company.
Police said Samyukta was killed between 10 pm and 4.30 am. Narendran had gone to his hometown on Saturday to meet his father. His mother had allegedly committed suicide around 20 days ago and his father was sick. “We suspect that Gayatridevi may have been influenced by the death of her mother-in-law and tried to kill herself”, another senior officer said.
HAL police have registered a case of murder and attempt to suicide. “The exact cause of the girl’s death will be known once we receive the post-mortem report,” the officer said.