BATHINDA: A 36-year-old woman allegedly killed her three children before dying by suicide in Punjab’s Mansa district late on Thursday, with police suspecting extreme financial distress as the reason behind the tragedy.The deceased, identified as Sandeep Kaur, lived in a rented house in ward no 3 of Mansa town and worked as a domestic help to support her family. Police said she had lost both her husbands in recent years and was struggling to provide for her two daughters, young son and elderly mother-in-law.According to the investigation, Sandeep’s first husband died of a prolonged illness. She later remarried, but her second husband, Nikka Singh, died more than six months ago, leaving her as the sole breadwinner.Police said that when the elderly mother-in-law was away from home on Thursday night, Sandeep allegedly administered a poisonous substance to her children before strangling them. Marks found on the children’s necks indicate possible strangulation, following which she allegedly hanged herself from a ceiling fan.The deceased children have been identified as Khushpreet Kaur (12), Sumandeep Kaur (8) and a two-year-old boy.Neighbours said Sandeep struggled to make ends meet by working as a maid and found it increasingly difficult to support her family. They believed she may have feared leaving her children orphaned after her death.Mansa Senior Superintendent of Police Bhagirath Singh Meena said preliminary investigations pointed to poverty and financial hardship as the likely motive, with no evidence of foul play by any outsider.“Prima facie, poverty appears to have driven the woman to take the extreme step. It appears she administered some poisonous substance to the children before strangling them, but the exact cause of death will be confirmed only after the postmortem and viscera reports,” Meena said.
