Bengaluru:

In a shocking and heartless crime, two children, aged seven and three, were strangled to death allegedly by one of their parents in Bengaluru, police said on Friday.

The gruesome crime was reported from Subramanyapura police station limits of the city, and the police are investigating the father and mother, hailing from Jharkhand, as the couple are blaming each other for murdering the children.

The children were identified as Shubam, 7, and Sia, 3. Their mother is admitted to the hospital with a cut injury in the neck and the father, an auto driver, was questioned by the police.

DCP South Division, Lokesh Jagalasar said: “Yesterday (Thursday), the murder of two children was reported. Investigations, so far at the preliminary stage, revealed that the children were chocked to death using a rope.”

“Now, conflicting claims are made by both parents as to who murdered the children. A case of murder has been registered and investigation taken up from all angles. Presently, the mother is receiving treatment for a cut injury on her neck and it also remains to be verified whether the injury is self-infected or from another person. The immediate cause of the murder, as ascertained by the investigation, is that the couple had marital disputes. The relatives and neighbours have given statements in this regard,” the DCP said.

The investigation is ongoing and more clarity will be reached in some time, he added.

According to the DCP, the case was reported by the father, who had rushed both the children and the mother to the hospital, after the incident which had taken place between 7 p.m. and 9.30 p.m. on Thursday. They reached the hospital at 10.30 p.m.

The CCTV footage so far available shows that the man came to know about the incident after he arrived home, the DCP said, adding that he claimed that there was a marital dispute, frustration, and depression which had led to the incident and his wife had committed the crime.

On the other hand, the woman claims to have no role in the murders and accuses her husband of committing the murders. However, it needs to be verified who was at the spot based on the technical evidence that the police have collected from the scene of the crime, the DCP said.

“As per the evidence available till now, the mother was at the spot and the father had come later. Still, we need to verify it from a few more angles,” he said.

“The woman is a housewife. We are inquiring into both parents. However, the woman is still under treatment and the investigation is not progressing so far. She is not serious and doctors have stated that there is no danger to life. They had come from Jharkhand to Bengaluru about two months ago,” the DCP said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)