Mother gets life for strangling kids

A 28-year-old woman, Poonam Sanjay Solanki, has been sentenced to life imprisonment by a Pune court for the strangulation deaths of her two young children. The verdict, delivered on October 31st, also included a three-year rigorous sentence for concealing the bodies.

The tragic events unfolded on January 5, 2022, just two days after the family arrived in Pune from Madhya Pradesh seeking work. Poonam Solanki allegedly led her children, Chanda and Anand, away from their temporary shelter near a labour camp in Mulshi taluka. Their bodies were discovered later, concealed in a grassy area, with ropes indicating strangulation as the cause of death, confirmed by postmortem examinations.

The prosecution's case was significantly bolstered by the testimony of a 12-year-old cousin who witnessed the mother with the children near the forest. Poonam Solanki also made an extra-judicial confession to a local Police Patil. The court acknowledged that matrimonial discord, poverty, and the pressures of raising young children likely contributed to the crime, rather than inherent depravity.

While rejecting the death penalty, the court emphasized that the murders, though grave, were not of the 'rarest of rare' category. The sentencing was guided by principles of proportionality, reformation, and deterrence, taking into account the accused's deprived background and her imprisonment since 2022. Any recovered fine was directed to be paid to the children's father as compensation.