UP: Woman throws five children into Ganga after quarrel with husband

A woman in Uttar Pradesh's Bhadohi district allegedly threw her five children into the Ganga following an argument with her husband, police said on Sunday. The bodies of Aarti and Saraswati, aged 12 and 10, were fished out by divers and efforts are on to trace Maateshwari, Shivshankar and Keshav Prasad but the river is deep, they said.

Manju and her husband Mridul Yadav often quarrelled but this time she threw her children into the river in Jahangirabad village here, Superintendent of Police Ram Badan Singh said. When the woman came to the ghat on Saturday evening, her children raised an alarm but the fishermen there fled believing her to be a witch.

After throwing her children, she sat at the ghat untill morning and informed the villagers about the incident, the police said. The district magistrate denied reports that the woman threw the children into the river because she could not find food during the ongoing lockdown.

"The woman and her family members have not mentioned any such thing," District Magistrate Rajendra Prasad said. "I deny such reports... action will be initiated against those spreading fake news," he added.