Boy's testimony sends mother to gallows for drowning 3 sons in UP

KANPUR: An eight-year-old boy's courtroom testimony against his mother led to her conviction and death sentence for murdering his three younger brothers by drowning them in a river after sedating them with spiked food at the behest of her lover in Uttar Pradesh's Auraiya last year.

"A woman who can kill her children does not have the right to live in society," additional district and sessions judge Saif Ahmed said Thursday. Judge Ahmed called it a "rarest of rare" crime and handed 30-year-old Priyanka death penalty and a Rs 2.5 lakh fine for killing her sons, aged six, four, and 18 months. Her partner Ashish - who is her dead husband's nephew - was sentenced to life in prison and fined Rs 1 lakh.

Investigators said Ashish told Priyanka he would only be with her if she "got rid of the children". Priyanka took her four sons to Sengur riverbank in Devarpur after a quarrel with Ashish on June 27, 2024. She had drugged the children and threw them one by one into the water. Locals managed to rescue the eldest boy, who regained consciousness and later testified against his mother. The bodies of the younger boys were found soon after.

Police arrested Priyanka and Ashish the next day. During trial, the son's eyewitness account and statements from six others, including Priyanka's brother-in-law, proved crucial for prosecution. "Court classified the crime 'rarest of rare' after it was established beyond doubt that the woman intentionally drowned her children. It's a horrifying act & demands strictest punishment," said govt counsel Abhishek Mishra.

Priyanka had moved with her children to her parental home after her husband Avnish Kumar died of electrocution while she was pregnant with their fourth child. Facing financial hardship, she later entered into a relationship with Ashish.

Since her arrest, Priyanka has been held at Etawah jail. She had expressed repeated desire to meet her firstborn, who now lives with his paternal aunt in Etawah, but the reunion never happened. Outside courtroom, Priyanka's family said they accept the verdict. "Ashish should have been hanged too," Priyanka's aunt Geeta Devi said.

Her father Pramod Kumar, a barber, said: "We never had the money to hire a lawyer or seek bail. We'll approach the President for a pardon."