A 25-year-old mother from Raigad, Maharashtra, was taken into custody on suspicion of killing her two children, who were five and three years old. Sheetal Pole admitted to the police that she had planned to elope with her lover—the person she had dated before her marriage but felt that the kids were getting in the way.
The children were discovered unconscious at home by their father, Sadanand Pole, on March 31.The kids were taken to the Alibag Civil Hospital in Raigad, where medical professionals declared them dead.
After speaking with the doctors, Assistant Police Inspector Somnath Lande suspected foul play in the case. He notified Somnath Gharge, the Superintendent of Police in Raigad, who then requested that Balasaheb Khade, the PI of the Local Crime Branch, begin an investigation.
Sadanand told the police that he had gone to the weekly market on the day of the incident at about 430 p.m. and returned with sandals and candy for his three-year-old son and five-year-old daughter.
Sheetal was in the courtyard completing housework when Sadanand arrived home. She informed him that the kids were asleep inside the house when he inquired about them.
The children had been asleep since six o’clock in the evening, Sheetal reported to the police, and neither the children nor anyone else had entered the house after her husband had departed. Police became suspicious of this and sent the children’s bodies for autopsy.
Authorities claimed that despite questioning Sadanand and Sheetal for days, they were unable to uncover any evidence linking them to the children’s deaths. After that, questions concerning the couple’s marriage and other private matters were posed.
When police searched Sheetal’s phone, they discovered calls and texts intended for Sainath Jadhav. After then, Sainath and Sheetal’s parents were taken to Mandwa to be questioned.
In the meantime, Sheetal admitted to killing her kids when questioned repeatedly. She said that she covered their mouths and nostrils with a towel and smothered them till they died. According to investigators, the autopsy findings verified that the kids were killed by suffocation.
“She also revealed that she had not allowed Sainath Jadhav to get married even after her marriage, as she wanted to elope with him,” said the officer.
