Hyderabad: Twins strangled to death by maternal uncle, two held

Hyderabad: In a bizarre incident, two mentally disabled children — Srijana Reddy and her twin brother Vishnuvardhan Reddy, both aged 12, — were strangled to death on Saturday by their maternal uncle Mallikarjun Reddy in his rented house in the Chaitanyapuri area late Friday.

Disclosing this to the media here, Assistant Commissioner of Police Prithvidhar Rao, said the twin’s uncle Mallikharjuna Reddy murdered them by strangulating them with a pillow. To cover up his crime, the accused tried to convince the police saying that the kids consumed a cool drink by mixing Harpic detergent, the ACP said, adding that the accused shift the bodies in a car belonging to his friend Vivek Reddy.

Following a complaint by the house owner, the police intercepted the car and took Mallikharjuna Reddy and Vivek Reddy into custody and registered murder case against the duo, the ACP added.

The ACP said the incident came to light when the house-owner noticed the accused along with two others trying to shift the bodies in a car and alerted the police. Mallikarjun Reddy had brought the children from their village in Nalgonda on Friday. He had told his sister Lakshmi and brother-in-law Srinivas Reddy that he will teach the children to swim.

The parents told the police that the twins were mute and also mentally disabled since birth.
The accused confessed to the crime and told them that he could not let his sister suffer the hardships of looking after the mentally disabled children. The couple did not lodge a police complaint against Mallikarjun Reddy. (NSS)