Mother held for drowning two children in Keralam, says wanted ‘independent life’

A day after two siblings, aged five and three, were found dead from drowning at their home, their mother was arrested and charged with murder, a police officer familiar with the case said on Wednesday.

The incident was reported on Tuesday in Kozhinjambara in Keralam’s Palakkad district.

Jennifer Juliet (5) and her brother Robin Christopher (3) were found dead in a water tub inside the bathroom of their rented home in Menonpara around 10.30 am on Tuesday.

Their mother Nivedya told the police initially that she was engaged in some domestic work in front of their home and went inside the bathroom to find her children dead by drowning. The kids’ father John Kumar was out for work.

Police said that while they initially filed a case of unnatural deaths and conducted inquests and post-mortems of the minor children, they did not find Nivedya’s testimony entirely believable. The police later took statements from locals, neighbours and John Kumar, all of whom expressed doubts about Nivedya’s account.

The police claimed that Nivedya, during the course of questioning on Wednesday, confessed to drowning her children.

“The woman has claimed that her children were a hindrance to her quest to lead a free, independent life. She claimed that she wanted to study and pursue a modelling career. We have recorded her confession. But we will need to continue a comprehensive investigation into the case,” said a senior officer at the Kozhinjambara police station where the FIR was registered.

The officer confirmed that the children died by drowning. The children’s father consumes alcohol regularly, which may have left an impact on the couple’s life, the officer said.