‘Children stood in my way of modelling dreams': Chittur murder case accused Nivedya admits drowning her kids

CHITTUR: The deaths of two siblings, aged five and three, who were found drowned in a water tank in the bathroom of their rented house, have been found to be a case of murder. Their mother, Nivedya, 33, has admitted to police that she drowned the children, saying she felt they would be a hindrance to her plans for an independent life. Police registered a murder case and produced Nivedya before a magistrate, who remanded her in custody.

The children, Jennifer Juliet and Robin Christopher, the children of John Kumar and Nivedya, were found dead in the concrete water tank in the bathroom of their rented house at Koorankad in Menonpara on Tuesday. Police had initially suspected that the children might have accidentally fallen into the tank while playing as water was being filled into it. However, Nivedya was questioned again after the children's paternal aunt Bensy and other relatives raised suspicions that the deaths could have been a murder. Although she initially denied any involvement, she later confessed to the crime, police said. According to her statement, Nivedya first drowned the elder child, who was taking a bath, and then drowned the younger child in the same tank.

Chittur DySP M. Sasidharan said Nivedya told police that her husband drank heavily and that frequent family problems and quarrels were common. She also reportedly said that she wanted to pursue further studies and modelling, but felt unable to do so because she had children. She told police that these circumstances, along with her desire to pursue an independent life, had led her to kill the children, the DySP said.

However, police said further questioning would be required to establish the complete motive behind the murders and determine precisely how the crime was carried out. The postmortem report stated that the children died after water entered their lungs. Further investigation is underway under the leadership of the Kozhinjampara police.