Mentally unstable woman kills 3-yr-old niece, dies by suicide in Thane

Thane, Sep 7 (PTI) A mentally unstable woman allegedly killed her three-year-old niece before committing suicide in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Sunday.

The incident took place on the intervening night of Friday-Saturday, they said.

The 26-year-old woman, resident of Ambernath town, was apparently suffering from depression after the death of her 8-year-old nephew (her sister's son), an official from Shivaji Nagar police station said.

She allegedly killed her sister's daughter by stangling her. Overcome with guilt, the woman then hanged herself from the ceiling of the sister's house using a 'dupatta' (long scarf), the official said.

After being alerted about the incident on Saturday morning, police rushed to the scene and sent both bodies to a government hospital for post-mortem.

The woman had been deeply affected by the death of her sister's son due to an illness some time back, the official said.

A case has been registered and a probe is on into it, the police added. PTI COR GK