Poor Toddlers
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Twin toddlers may have starved in bedroom, Australian court told
Posted: 17 June 2008 1427 hrsSYDNEY: The mother of twin toddlers found dead in their bedroom told police they may have starved to death, an Australian court heard on Tuesday.
The decaying bodies of the 18-month-old boy and girl were found by a sibling who smelled something unusual in their house in the east coast city of Brisbane, the local Magistrates Court was told.
A 28-year-old man and the 30-year-old mother appeared in the court on charges of failing to provide necessities of life after police discovered the deaths on Monday evening, the national AAP news agency reported.
Police found the bodies in a "state of decay," and the children appeared to be malnourished, prosecutor Michelle Clarke said.
The mother allegedly told police she had noticed the twins were dead on either June 8 or 9, adding that she had been suffering from a cold and rarely fed or changed them.
When asked by police how they died, the mother allegedly said: "I don't think I fed them enough."
One of the children weighed 3.6 kilogrammes (7.9 pounds) and the other 4.0 kilogrammes.
The court was told the couple's other four children said they had rarely seen the twins, who had been kept in the front room of the house for most of their lives.
The prosecutor said that when the corpses were found by an 11-year-old sibling, the child went to the mother and said: "I know why you have been crying now."
The court heard the parents were undergoing "significant relationship problems" and the man failed to support the children.
The case was due to continue later Tuesday.
- AFP/so -
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.. why is this in SC?
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Originally posted by the Bear:
.. why is this in SC?
Uhm... Tax and rising food prices? -
More like bad parents... we have our own examples of dysfunctional families:
SINGAPORE : A man has been arrested on suspicion of killing a two—month—old Malay baby girl.
The baby had been living at a ground—floor unit at Blk 250, Yishun Avenue 9. Channel NewsAsia found that the unit is a shelter for young expectant mothers.
Police said that the baby was sent to KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital at about 8.45pm on Sunday with breathing difficulties. She died at 10.45pm.
At 11pm, police arrested a friend of the baby’s mother — an Indian man in his 40s.
The man will be charged in court with murder on Tuesday.
Channel NewsAsia understands that the baby’s mother is helping the police with investigations.
Neighbours told Channel NewsAsia that they had seen the mother, who is a resident of the Good Shepherd Centre, with the man even before the baby was born.
The couple were sometimes seen chatting or arguing for many hours.
One resident said, "The guy would come and the lady would bring her baby to the staircase and sit there, and chit chat. The baby will be in its pram and they would talk.
"That time they had a misunderstanding. Sometimes I see the mother crying, (her) face would be all red." — CNA/ms
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now this doesnt seem like a simple case