The complainant said that about one-and-a-half months after the delivery, Devi began showing a lack of interest in the children and repeatedly said that they should be admitted to an ashram. (Representative image)Parvez Sagar

Bengaluru woman kills 4-month-old twin daughters, then attempts suicide at home

A case was filed against a 40-year-old Bengaluru woman for killing her four-month-old twin daughters and attempting suicide, police said. The woman was undergoing psychiatric treatment after doctors reportedly linked her behaviour to postpartum depression and hormonal imbalance following childbirth.

by · India Today

In Short

  • Four-month-old twins were discovered dead inside locked room
  • Doctors linked woman's behaviour to postpartum depression after childbirth
  • Woman faces murder charges after husband files complaint against her

A case has been registered against a 40-year-old woman for killing her four-month-old twin daughters and then attempting to take her own life at her home in Bengaluru, police said on Wednesday. The FIR was registered on the basis of a complaint filed by her husband, and further investigation is underway.

Police said the woman, Uma Devi, had been undergoing psychiatric treatment after doctors reportedly told the family that her behaviour was linked to postpartum depression and hormonal imbalance after childbirth. The twin girls were found dead inside a locked room on Tuesday, while Devi was rescued after allegedly trying to hang herself.

According to police, Devi was living in Vajarahalli with her husband Ramalingappa, their twin daughters and her mother-in-law. Ramalingappa, who is engaged in the real estate business, said in his complaint that he and Devi had married in 2002 and had been leading a cordial married life.

As they had no children, they underwent IVF treatment. Following the treatment, Devi became pregnant and gave birth to twin girls on May 5.

The complainant said that about one-and-a-half months after the delivery, Devi began showing a lack of interest in the children and repeatedly said that they should be admitted to an ashram. A senior police officer said she also began behaving abnormally.

She was given psychiatric treatment at Raghavendra Hospital and NIMHANS. Doctors reportedly informed the family that her behaviour was due to postpartum depression and hormonal imbalance following childbirth, the officer said.

Police said that when Ramalingappa returned home on the afternoon of September 1, he found that Devi had locked herself inside a room. After opening the door, he found her allegedly attempting to hang herself with a veil around her neck and rescued her, the officer said.

The twin girls were found dead inside the same room. Doctors at Shankar Hospital examined the children and suspected that they had died due to drowning, police said.

The complainant alleged that Devi killed the children, resulting in their deaths, and then attempted to take her own life. Based on his complaint, Talaghattapura police registered a case against her under Section 103 (murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

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