REALITY TV
TV
MOVIES
MUSIC
CELEBRITY
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use Accuracy & Fairness Corrections & Clarifications Ethics Code Your Ad Choices
© MEAWW All rights reserved
MEAWW.COM / NEWS / CRIME & JUSTICE

Man slits throats of toddler daughter and son, stabs himself while chanting: 'I have to save the children'

The 1-year-old daughter and the 3-year-old son died after suffering fatal knife wounds at their home
PUBLISHED MAY 10, 2020
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

Two young children died after their father slit their throats during a "psychotic episode", an inquest into their murders has heard.

Nineteen-month-old Pavinya Nithiyakumar and her three-year-old brother Nigish Nithiyakumar died after suffering fatal knife wounds at their home in Ilford, east London, on Sunday, April 26.

The children's heartbroken mother, Nishanthani Kumar, described the horrifying moment she discovered their bodies and insisted her husband Nithin Kumar, 40, was a "kind" and "gentle" man who she did not previously think was capable of such an act.

She recalled storming into the bedroom to discover Pavinya and Nigish lying on the bed drenched in blood as their father knelt over them with a large kitchen knife in his hand.

"I was in the bathroom and could hear one of my children vomiting," she said. "I rushed into the bedroom and when I saw them covered in blood, just started screaming. I was shouting 'what have you done to them, what has happened?'"

Nishanthani said Kumar was "kneeling over them with a crazed look in his eye" and didn't say a word even as her "mother's instincts kicked in" and she frantically tried to save her children.

"I rushed to the fridge to get some ice because I could see that my son had a deep cut to his neck," she said. "Blood was gushing out of it. I ran back into the bedroom and started applying the ice to his neck. He was barely able to breathe and was wheezing heavily."

"My daughter was not moving at all. There was blood all around her. All I could think about was how to save them," she added.

She revealed that her husband chased her and tried to attack her as she ran to call emergency services and that she somehow managed to knock the knife out of his hand.

She said he eventually came out with blood spouting from his neck and then slumped on the bedside. He had suffered a knife injury and is now in a critical condition at a hospital, where he is currently under police guard.

"He kept on saying 'I'm sorry, I'm scared that they are going to kill me and might do something to the children,'" she shared. "He was speaking like a mad man and was going on about 'how they are going to get him' and that he 'had to save the children'. I couldn't make sense of what he was saying. And then he just passed out."

An inquest at the Walthamstow Coroner's Court on Sunday, May 10, heard that both children died after they had been attacked by their father.

"Pavinya died of injuries at the scene and was pronounced extinct at 5.53 pm," said area coroner Graeme Irvine. "Nigish died of injuries and was pronounced extinct at 7.42 pm at Royal London Hospital. Both had been attacked by the father at the home and their throats had been cut."

"I am satisfied after hearing about these very very sad deaths that an inquest is necessary," he continued. "I'm not going to fix a time for the inquest as there is an ongoing criminal investigation into both of these deaths."

Another hearing will take place on November 30, 2020.

POPULAR ON MEAWW
MORE ON MEAWW