Dalit woman commits suicide after killing 3 children in Odisha

Financial problems seemed to have played a role in the death, says police.

A Dalit woman allegedly poisoned her three children, set her house on fire and committed suicide apparently due to poverty at a village in Odisha's Nabarangpur district, a police officer on Wednesday said.

The incident took place on Tuesday at Dongariguda village under Kosagumuda Block of the backward district, Nabarangpur Superintendent of Police, Jugal Kishore said.

According to preliminary investigation, the woman Kumari Harijan (29) first gave poison to her three children, daughters Parvati (7) and Reena (4) and one-and-a-half-year-old son Nilu and then consumed it herself after setting her belongings in the house afire, the SP said.

The incident came to light when the villagers found smoke emanating from the thatched house on Tuesday afternoon and rushed to the spot, police said.

They broke the door open as it was locked from inside and on entering the house, they found the children lying down, while Kumari was in a critical condition. They were rushed to the Community Health Centre at Kosagumuda, police added. The doctor declared the three children dead and after some time Kumari also died.

Dhaniram Harijan, husband of Kumari was not present as he works as a daily labourer at Nagarnal in Bastar District of Chhattisgarh. Police are probing all aspects but said at the outset "financial problems" seemed to have played a role in the death.