Shocking infanticide: Mother smothers 10-day-old twin girls while breastfeeding

In an extremely disturbing case of female infanticide, a mother in Tamil Nadu has confessed to smothering her newborn twin girls while breastfeeding. The incident occurred in Katradithattu village, in Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu, and is the horrific fallout of the husband's family emotionally torturing the mother over the birth of a girl child. 

Divya, the 29-year-old mother, was picked up by the Kottar police after an investigation by the District Child Protection Officer. Suspicious neighbours tipped off the authorities after they were told by the family that both girls had died suddenly just ten days after their birth and were already buried in the backyard. 

During interrogation, Divya claimed that the children had died after accidentally suffocating. The investigators found this unlikely and exhumed the bodies, where initial visual evidence indicated strangulation. A post-mortem indicated the deaths were not accidental, but intentional

Divya later confessed that she had squeezed the life out of each child while they were breastfeeding. 

While the police have been quick to arrest the mother and free the family, the case may be more complicated than this. Divya also confessed that her husband's family had been mentally torturing her for years over the birth of an elder girl child two years ago and that she took the extreme step since she could not live with their constant harassment. 
 

• Female Infanticide
• Tamil Nadu
• Murder