A 25-year-old woman in Maharashtra's Raigarh allegedly strangled her two children so she could elope with her boyfriend, police said on Thursday. Sheetal Pole told police that she wanted to live with her partner but felt that her two children were obstacles in her path.
According to the police, Sheetal killed her five-year-old daughter Aaradhya and three-year-old son Sarthak on March 31 at their home in Kihim of Alibag Tehsil.
When their father Sadanand Pole returned home, he found the two siblings unconscious on the bed while his wife was washing dishes outside the home. She told him that the children were sleeping, police said.
But after the siblings did not wake up, Sadanand grew suspicious and rushed them to the hospital where doctors declared them dead.
The police were informed and they started an investigation. They discovered that the children's mother had an alleged love affair with Sainath Jadhav. which led to regular fights between her and her husband.
According to senior police officer Somnath Gharge, when police questioned her, she gave contradicting statements. Soon after, she confessed to the crime, they said.
Sheetal told police that she suffocated the two children because they were the reason she could not elope with her boyfriend.
Police have registered a case of murder and arrested her.