Twin 13-year-old boys were found dead in northern India, with police alleging they were killed because they opposed their widowed mother's relationship with another man.
Vinay and Vishnu Chaudhary were discovered dead near their home in Badesra village, in India's Rajasthan state, at around 6am on Tuesday. Police said the boys had suffered multiple cut wounds and injuries to their heads, while both of their throats had been slit.
Mother and two others in custody
The boys' mother, Preeti, her alleged lover and her 16-year-old son have been taken into custody as police investigate the killings. Investigators allege Preeti plotted to have the twins killed because they had become an “obstacle” to her relationship with a man from the same village.
Police claim she called the man to the family home, where he and her older son carried out the killings at her request. Her 16-year-old son allegedly supported his mother's relationship, while his younger twin brothers were opposed to it.
Family background
All three were being questioned by police following the deaths. The family had been living in Badesra following the death of the boys' father several years earlier.
Police said Preeti had married Niranjan Singh, from Saroth Mansa village in the neighbouring Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, around 20 years ago. The couple had four children together – an 18-year-old daughter, a 16-year-old son and the 13-year-old twins.
Following her husband's death, Preeti and the four children moved to her parental home in Badesra. Police allege the twins opposed their mother's relationship with another man who lived in the same village.
