Four minors aged between five months and seven years were found dead in a well on Thursday, while their mother who is suspected to have thrown them into the water body, was found hanging at her home in Madhya Pradesh’s Sagar district, police said on Thursday.
Prima facie it appears that the woman, Savita Lodhi (30), threw her four daughters into the well and later hanged herself at her house in Khamaria village, about 50km from the district headquarters, City Superintendent of Police (CSP) Lalit Kashyap said, reported news agency PTI.
How did the incident come to light?
The woman, aged 28-years-old, used to live with her father-in-law and her younger sister.
According to a report by HT, the family had gone to sleep after dinner on Wednesday night (11 March). The next morning, the woman’s father-in-law noticed that she and the children were missing. At first, the family assumed they had gone somewhere nearby, but when they did not return by the afternoon, he alerted the villagers.
Later, the minors were discovered in the well, while the 28-year-old was found hanging.
Upon receiving information about the incident, which created panic in the village, personnel from the Kesli police station reached the spot and began an investigation, reported news wire PTI.
The reason behind the suicide-murders was not yet known, according to police.
Bodies recovered from well
The sisters, aged between five months and seven years, drowned in the well located in an agriculture field belonging to a local farmer. Police said that three of the bodies have been fished out so far with the help of villagers.
Police are questioning family members of the deceased and local residents to ascertain the circumstances leading to the incident, the CSP said.
‘Woman gave birth to four daughters’
Authorities are waiting for the husband, who works as a bus helper in Jabalpur, to arrive.
Villagers told the police that the couple had been married for about 10 years and had hoped for a son. However, the woman gave birth to four daughters, and after the birth of the youngest child, her husband reportedly stopped returning home, reported Hindustan Times.
