In a shocking incident, a woman in Bhadohi, Uttar Pradesh, allegedly threw her five children into the Ganga river, following an argument with her husband, police said on Sunday, April 12.
The incident took place in Jahangirabad village on Saturday night, said Ram Badan Singh, Superintendent of Police. According to the police, the woman – Manju and her husband Mridul Yadav often quarrelled, but this time she took the drastic step and threw her five children into the river.
While the bodies of two children – Aarti and Saraswati – aged 12 and 10, were fished out by divers, efforts are on to trace the other three – Maateshwari, Shivshankar and Keshav Prasad.
When the woman came to the ghat with her children on Saturday night, the children raised an alarm. However, the fishermen at the location fled, believing the woman to be a witch.
The woman then threw the children into the river and then sat at the ghat until morning, and informed the villagers about the incident, the police said.
“Initially we were informed that the woman along with her children jumped into the river but later it was clarified that the woman had thrown her children in the river and she has accepted doing so. A search operation is underway,” Singh was quoted byANI.
Earlier, several reports had claimed that the woman threw her children into the river because she could not find food during the ongoing lockdown. However, District Magistrate Rajendra Prasad refuted the claims.
“The woman and her family members have not mentioned any such thing,” Prasad was quoted as saying byThe Indian Express. “I deny such reports… action will be initiated against those spreading fake news,” he added.