After three children, mother found dead

Sambalpur, Aug 15 (UNI) A day after three children were found dead near Tukurla village, their mother was brought dead to the Bargarh Hospital today while the father was admitted in a critical condition.

The police said Tukurla villagers first saw the bodies of three children, including a 15-year-old girl, near a barren land just 100 metres away from the Bargarh-Bhattli road yesterday.

Initially the police suspected that the children were thrown after being murdered, but today their parents were also found lying unconscious near a field.

The parents were rushed to the hospital by a local municipal corporator where the mother identified as Namita Pradhan was declared brought dead while her husband, Arjun Pradhan, was still battling for his life.

The couple had reportedly consumed poison, police said and suspected that the children might have been poisoned by them. The local people identified the children as Anjali, Shankar and Vicki.

Police said Arjun who belonged to Ambagaon village under Hinjalikat police station of Ganjam district was staying with his family at the Dam colony for the last few months.

As only 100 grams of rice was found from their house, the police believed that poverty might have driven the parents to take to the extreme step of poisoning their children before attempting suicide.

The bodies of the children and the mother have been sent for post mortem to ascertain the cause of death.

UNI