NRI woman convicted of killing daughters in UK

Prasun Sonwalkar

London, Sept 22 (PTI) An Indian-origin woman who stabbed
her daughters to death at her home in Cambridgeshire has been
found guilty of their murder, and is scheduled to be sentenced
Tuesday.

Rekha Kumari-Baker, 41, admitted the killings but had
denied murder on the grounds of diminished responsibility.
Davina Baker, 16, and Jasmine Baker, 13, were killed with a
kitchen knife in a frenzied attack in 2007.

A jury at the Cambridge Crown Court took about 30 minutes
to reach a verdict of guilty on both counts of murder. The
court was told that Davina was stabbed 39 times at the house
in Stretham, on 13 June 2007.

There were wounds on the girl's body which showed she had
tried to defend herself. Kumari-Baker, a hotel worker, then
attacked her younger daughter in similar fashion.

The jury was told that after killing the children she
rang a friend to say: "I have done something terrible."

In a hand-written note which she left at the murder
scene, she wrote: "I don't want them to get hurt as I did."
She concluded the note by writing: "My kids will not be a
burden to anyone anymore."

The court heard there was "much contention" between her
and her ex-husband over the care and custody of their
children. PTI