New Delhi, March 22 The Delhi Police have arrested a 54-year-old woman for allegedly killing her two daughters at their residence in Malviya Nagar, south Delhi, earlier this month. In this incident, she had also allegedly attempted suicide, an official said on Sunday.
The case pertains to March 6, when the bodies of the two sisters, aged 34 and 28, were found in separate rooms of their ground-floor house, while their mother was discovered unconscious at the scene.
According to police, a PCR call was received around 6 pm from the woman's husband, who reported that his wife and daughters were not opening the door. A police team reached the spot and found the house locked from the inside. They broke open a window above the main door to gain entry.
Inside, the elder daughter, who was intellectually challenged, was found lying in a room with a pillow placed on her face. Another room was locked from the inside and had to be broken open, where the younger daughter, a law student, was found dead on a bed with a ligature around her neck.
The mother was found unconscious in another room and was rushed to the AIIMS Trauma Centre. Doctors suspected that she had consumed a poisonous substance, possibly a mixture of phenyl and camphor recovered from the spot. Her wrists were also found slit, an officer said.
Police initially suspected a murder-suicide attempt and registered a case of murder, awaiting the woman's statement. After her discharge from the hospital and psychiatric evaluation, she was arrested on Friday.
"The accused remains evasive during interrogation. We are still trying to ascertain the exact sequence of events and the reasons behind the double murder and the alleged suicide attempt," Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Anant Mittal said.
Initial investigation indicated that the woman was distressed due to a strained relationship with her husband, with whom she had reportedly not been on talking terms for the past seven to eight years, and financial dependence on others.
Further investigation is underway, police added.