Feeling ignored by family, woman kills brother, niece

She also put cyanide in Mahi's mouth when the girl collapsed on May 30

Feeling ignored by family, woman kills brother, niece

Representational picture

Ahmedabad: A woman dentist, feeling ignored by the family, allegedly killed her brother and his 14-month-old daughter through poisoning within the span of 25 days, Patan police in Gujarat said Friday.

Kinnari Patel (28) was arrested from Ahmedabad on Thursday after a complaint by her father, inspector R G Chaudhari of Patan police. Kinnari's brother Jigar Patel (32) had died on May 5 while his 14-month-old daughter Mahi had died on May 30. Narendra Patel, the accused woman's father, told the police that his son Jigar had started complaining of symptoms of illness including seizures some six months ago.

"Patel family lives in Ahmedabad. When they were visiting Patan in May, Jigar suddenly collapsed. He was declared brought dead at a hospital on May 5," said Chaudhari. "On May 30, when the family was visiting Narendra's brother in Patan, Jigar's daughter fell ill. Kinnari was present there too. The baby was rushed to a hospital but she died," he said.

The inspector said, "The family grew suspicious as Kinnari did not show any grief on both occasions." Kinnari was then grilled by other family members and after that, she allegedly confessed to have poisoned Jigar and Mahi. Her father approached Patan police on Wednesday and she was arrested.

"Kinnari told us that she was feeling ignored, she was not given importance by other family members. She developed an inferiority complex. So she decided to kill Jigar and Mahi by slow poisoning. She started mixing the poisonous Datura (Jimson weed) seed extract in their drinking water," Chaudhari said.

"When Jigar collapsed on May 5, she put cyanide in his mouth before he was taken to hospital. She also put cyanide in Mahi's mouth when the girl collapsed on May 30," said Chaudhari, adding that further probe was on.