Three kids drown in tank, murder case against mother

GURUGRAM: Three children, the youngest among them a 4-month-old daughter, died on Tuesday after drowning in an underground water tank at their house while their mother —who also fell — is being treated at a hospital in Kherla village of Nuh.
Police suspect that the incident was a suicide attempt by the 30-year-old woman, who — they said — was worried after the doctors told her that her youngest child, Ikra, may also be differently abled and mentally ill like her other children.
Her husband, a truck mechanic who was at work in Delhi at the time of the incident, said the children — Shabana (10) and Mohammad Shaad (7) — slipped into the water tank while playing and his wife Shakunat, who had the Ikra on her lap, jumped in to save them. The couple has another son, 12-year-old Shoeb, who was in school on Tuesday morning.
Police said they are investigating the two versions. But they have registered an FIR under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 309 (attempt to commit suicide) against Shakunat at the Mewat City police station after taking suo motu cognizance of the case on Wednesday.
“Police teams have spoken to neighbours and the sequence of events is being ascertained. Teams have been formed to investigate the matter,” a senior police officer said.
Cops said they are also waiting to take a statement by Shakunat, who is critical and not in the condition to give a statement. She is admitted to the Nalhar Medical College in Nuh.
Mewat City police station’s SHO Bharat Singh said on Wednesday that initial investigation points to the “mental pressure” that Shakunat was under after doctors told her last week that Ikra may also be sick.
Shabana and Shaad had speech impairments and difficulty walking, cops said.
“On Tuesday, the woman and her three children jumped into the underground water tank inside their house. According to preliminary investigation, a doctor told the woman that Ikra was also ill. She may have taken the extreme step under acute mental pressure," the SHO said.
Shakunat’s husband Mohammad Arif (34) told cops the children had mental ailments, and had “slipped into the tank while playing near the verandah” of the house. Shakunat, he said, jumped in to save them.
Citing witnesses, police sources said that Shakunat shouted for help after jumping into the tank. The villagers managed to get her out, but the three children had drowned by then.
The post-mortem reports are awaited, the SHO said.