Woman arrested for killing four toddlers in Gurgaon

Gurgaon, Oct 18 (IANS) In an apparent case of a family property dispute taking an ungly turn, a 27-year-old woman was Saturday arrested for allegedly killing four of her nieces and nephews during the past one year in suburban Gurgaon.

According to police, Babita was arrested from Tigra village near here after her brother-in-law Ajit complained to police that she had murdered his five-year-old son Sunny Oct 10.

Police said the other victims are Gaurav, 2, Meher, two-and-half, and Priti, 5. They were victims of Babita's 'whim and jealousy', according to her relatives.

Police and Babita's relatives recovered blood stained clothes and slippers from her house.

'The woman has already confessed to killing Sunny. We are interrogating her to get further details,' said Jagdish Nagar, deputy commissioner of police, Gurgaon.

Babita was produced before a court here, which sent her to three days police custody.

Family members and friends offered different motives for the crime.

Mahendra Pal, another brother-in-law of the accused, said Babita used to lure kids by offering them sweets and kill them by throttling them. He alleged Babita does not like children.

However, Robin Singh, a family friend, said Babita committed the murders so that her only daughter could inherit all the properties of the family.

Ajit told reporters he had been approaching police for one week but they had refused to listen to him. "Babita was finally arrested after I approached a top police official," he said.

Babita married to Hamal Singh, a cousin of Ajit and Mahendra, nearly four years ago. The three cousins were staying together.