india

Updated: Dec 10, 2018 07:40 IST

A 25-year-old woman, found with her throat slit next to the body of her murdered 3-year-old daughter in south Delhi’s Hauz Rani locality last month, regained consciousness after three weeks on Sunday, and named her husband and brother-in-law as the perpetrators of the crime, according to police officers familiar with the matter.

Mohsina Begum’s testimony has given a twist to the police investigations, which so far suggested that the depressed woman had killed her daughter and then tried to commit suicide. Medical reports also suggest that her wounds were self-inflicted, police said.

But officers are now looking into the role of her husband Mohammad Shamim and brother-in-law Mohammad Saleem. Shamim, 28, used to work at a cosmetics store in a Saket mall before quitting his job earlier this year. Saleem is a part-time construction contractor. Neither of them have been arrested, but police say they will be called for interrogation.

On November 17, at around 10.50am, the police received a call was received informing that a woman had slashed the throats of her daughter and son, and then attempted to kill herself. When a police team arrived on the spot, they found Mohsina, her 3-year-old daughter, and 18-month-old son in a pool of blood.

While the daughter succumbed to her injuries, the son and mother have been under treatment at a Saket hospital since then. Police had registered a case of murder and attempt to murder to were probing the matter.

On Sunday, when the woman woke up from coma, a police team investigating the case recorded her statement. In her signed testimony, which has been seen by HT, Mohsina said that she and her children were sleeping in the house on the night of November 16, when her husband came home late and started abusing and thrashing her.

“Shamim stays home during the day and goes out to drink in the evening. He returns home around 2-3 am. That day, he came home around 12am and started hitting me badly. He kept beating me till 4am. My father-in-law and mother-in-law also came in to check on us. Around 7am, when I had gone to sleep, I saw that Shamim and Saleem slashing my daughter’s throat with a knife. When I tried to push them away, they cut my finger with the knife,” Mohsina alleged in her statement.

She said that when she intervened again, the two men slit her throat. “I ran out of the house, but I could barely speak. I rushed back into the house and saw the two men [husband and brother-in-law]. I do not remember anything after that. Today, when I woke up, I saw my son who also has injuries on his neck. I have not seen my daughter,” the woman said in the statement.

Deputy commissioner of police (south) Vijay Kumar said that Mohsina has been discharged and she can’t speak because of her injuries. “We have taken her statement in a questionnaire format. We will further question her. We have also collected the post-mortem report of the daughter but it is not conclusive. It will be sent to forensic experts. Now, as per her statement, we will interrogate her in-laws,” the DCP said.

On Sunday, there was when Mohisna’s in-laws came to the hospital there was an altercation between the two families. Mohsina’s father Ishaq Mohammad is an assistant sub inspector in Delhi police currently posted at Saket court.

“I always knew my daughter cannot do anything like this. It was Shamim who killed my grandchild and also tried to kill my daughter. I have full faith in police probe and the accused will be punished. My daughter and her husband often used to fight but we had not thought he would go up to this level,” Ishaq said.

Mohsina’s family had alleged from the start that Shamim, his older brother Saleem and mother were responsible for attempt on her life.