Pakistani police say a woman was depressed when she allegedly strangled her three children in the eastern city of Lahore.

Police officer Bilal Zafar says Aniqa Khatoon inflicted several cuts on her forearms with a sharp blade on Saturday before informing her father and police of the kids’ deaths on the outskirts of the provincial capital.

Ms Khatoon alleges her boyfriend killed her two sons, ages 5 and 9 and her 7-year-old daughter.

Mr Zafar said the woman was divorced about seven years ago and has had financial problems.

Police detained the woman’s boyfriend Hasan Mustafa for questioning, but he has denied he was in the house when the children were killed.

Mr Zafar suspects the mother murdered her children in extreme depression.