Woman arrested for killing her children, commits suicide in prison

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: In a shocking turn of event, a 29-year-old woman who was recently arrested on charges of killing her two children, was found hanging inside one of the toilets in Parappana Agrahara prison in the city. Gangadevi, a resident of Bhovi Colony in Jalahalli, had allegedly smothered her children- Gowtham, 9, and her seven-year-old daughter, who was allegedly a victim of sexual abuse.

Following this, she called the police control room around 1 am on April 10 complaining of trouble in her house. A Hoysala vehicle rushed to her residence.

 The police team did not see any commotion but they noticed the bodies of the two children lying on the bed. Gangadevi surrendered herself to the police.

The Jalahalli police had said that the woman was suffering from depression and had told them that she would commit suicide. According to the police, Gangadevi hails from Andhra Pradesh.

She was married to Naresh, also hailing from the State, 10 years ago. Naresh was working as a pourakarmika in Bengaluru on a contract basis, while Gangadevi was working as a marketing executive at a private firm on a temporary basis.

On March 20, Gangadevi had lodged a case against Naresh accusing him of sexually abusing their daughter. The Jalahalli police had registered a case under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 and arrested Naresh.

He is in judicial custody and lodged in Parappana Agrahara Central Prison. Following ar rest on Wednesday, Gangadevi had been remanded to judicial custody and was sent to Parappana Agrahara prison.

According to sources, on Thursday she went inside the toilet but did not come out for a long time. The matter came to light when a few inmates checked up on her and found her dead, hanging from the ceiling using her saree.

The prison officials sent the body to Victoria hospital for a post-mortem analysis and handed it over to her family.