In a shocking incident, two siblings with mental illness were allegedly killed by their maternal uncle in Hyderabad, after he claimed that he wanted to "relieve his sister from the hardships of looking after the them".
The police on Saturday said that Srijana Reddy and her twin brother Vishnuvardhan Reddy, both aged 12, were strangulated to death by Mallikarjun Reddy in his rented house in the city's Chaitanyapuri area, late on Friday.
According to the police, the incident came to light when the house-owner allegedly noticed the accused along with two others trying to shift the bodies in his car.
He alerted the police and they arrested Mallikarjun, his friend Venkatrami Reddy and the car driver Vivek Reddy.
Mallikarjun had reportedly brought the children from their residence in Nalgonda on Friday. He had told his sister Lakshmi and brother-in-law Srinivas Reddy that he would teach the children to swim.
The parents told the police that the twins were mute and also had mental health issues since birth.
The accused allegedly confessed to the crime and told the police that he could not let his sister suffer the hardships of looking after the children with disabilities.
Meanwhile, the couple did not lodge a police complaint against Mallikarjun.
Balala Hakkula Sangham (BHS), an NGO that deals with child rights, demanded that the parents of the twins should also be booked, and claimed that they were “well aware of the killing of their children.”
The NGO also demanded that the couple’s third child, a four-year-old boy, should be shifted to a safer place as care and protection was lacking under the parents.
BHS President Achyuta Rao said that the state government should start a special home for children with intellectual disabilities and take in any child whom the parents want to disown, as right to life is a basic right guaranteed under the Constitution.