Mother ‘kills’ two daughters, says possessed by ‘evil spirit’

NEW DELHI: Three days after the bodies of two sisters, aged six months and five years, were found at their home in west Delhi’s Zakhira near Moti Nagar, police on Friday said the two were murdered by their mother.

Police said the mother, identified by her first name Suman, told them that she was ‘possessed’ by an ‘evil spirit’ when her daughters died. Suman told police she found herself sleeping over her daughters when she woke up on Tuesday morning.

Investigators, while analysing Suman’s claims, are probing if she was depressed and killed her two daughters because she was a mother of three girls.

A murder case was registered against Suman but she was not arrested. Preliminary autopsy reports showed they died of smothering.

Vijay Kumar, deputy commissioner of police (west), said they were providing psychiatric assistance to the woman as she had symptoms of mental illness. “If required, we will admit her to Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences with the consent of her family members,” said Kumar.

SK Khandelwal, retired head of department of psychiatry, AIIMS, said, “This kind of possession syndrome is quite common. But it is short-lasting and people do not commit crimes like murder. A person who feels possessed in fact claims to solve problems of others. In this case, I think the woman should be properly examined to determine if she has any signs of mental illness.”

Police questioned Suman’s husband Pawan. Their neighbours corroborated her evil spirits story, saying they had experienced her odd behaviour in the past. “Suman sometimes behaved abnormally but we never thought she would end up killing her daughters. Many of us in the neighbourhood had heard about her being possessed by a devi (goddess),” said Kamla Devi, a neighbour.

The deceased were Nandini, 5, and Akansha, 6 months.

During inquiry, police learnt the two children were sleeping with their mother while Pawan was in another room with his third two-and-a-half -year-old daughter.

Pawan told police he woke up around 6.30 am and went to refill the gas cylinder. “Pawan told us his wife and two daughters were sleeping in their room on the first floor when he left,” said an investigator. Around 7.30 am, Pawan returned but Suman did not allow him to enter the flat. As she was behaving abnormally, Pawan sought help from his landlord. When neighbours tried to intervene, Suman threw water, shoes and other items.

“Around 10.30 am, Suman started screaming that somebody had killed her daughters. The landlord then informed the police control room,” the officer added.