US AUTHORITIES have arrested and charged a 35-year-old Indian American woman in New Jersey with the murder of her two young sons.
An investigation found that Priyatharsini Natarajan of Hillsborough, New Jersey, caused the deaths of her two children on Tuesday (13).
Somerset County Prosecutor John McDonald said in a statement on Wednesday (14) that at around 6.45pm on January 13, an individual, believed to be the children’s father, called 911. He told police that after returning home from work, he found his two sons, aged five and seven, unconscious and said that “his wife did something to them”.
Police officers who arrived at the house found the caller and his wife, identified as Natarajan. The two children were found dead in a bedroom inside the home.
Officers and medical personnel attempted life-saving measures, but these were unsuccessful. The children were pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities have not released the identities of the children, pending confirmation by the Medical Examiner’s Office.
Natarajan was arrested and charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose.
She was taken into custody by Hillsborough police officers and later transported to the Somerset County Jail, where she is being held pending a detention hearing.
McDonald said the investigation is being handled by detectives from the Hillsborough Township Police Department and the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, with support from crime scene investigators and medical examiners.
A post-mortem examination will be conducted by the Northern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office to confirm the children’s identities and determine the cause and manner of death, the statement said.
(PTI)
