In a landmark judgment delivered by Additional District and Sessions Judge Saif Ahmed, a 30-year-old woman, Priyanka, was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of her three younger sons in Uttar Pradesh's Auraiya last year. The chilling crime, which involved sedating the children and drowning them in a river, was deemed a "rarest of rare" case by the court. Her lover, Ashish, who is also her deceased husband's nephew, received a life sentence for his involvement.

The horrific incident unfolded on June 27, 2024, when Priyanka took her four sons to the Sengur riverbank in Devarpur. Investigators revealed that Ashish had pressured Priyanka, stating he would only continue their relationship if she "got rid of the children." Driven by this demand and facing financial hardship after her husband Avnish Kumar's death by electrocution, Priyanka drugged her sons and threw them into the water one by one. Miraculously, the eldest son, then eight years old, was rescued by locals. He regained consciousness and later provided crucial eyewitness testimony against his mother in court, a pivotal moment in the trial. The bodies of his three younger brothers, aged six, four, and 18 months, were recovered shortly after.

Following the tragedy, police swiftly arrested Priyanka and Ashish the very next day. During the trial, the prosecution's case was significantly bolstered by the surviving son's account and statements from six other witnesses, including Priyanka's brother-in-law. Government counsel Abhishek Mishra emphasized that the court classified the crime as "rarest of rare" due to the undeniable evidence that the mother intentionally drowned her own children, demanding the strictest possible punishment for such a horrifying act.

Judge Ahmed, in his verdict, stated, "A woman who can kill her children does not have the right to live in society." He imposed a death penalty and a fine of Rs 2.5 lakh on Priyanka, while Ashish was fined Rs 1 lakh in addition to his life imprisonment. Priyanka had moved to her parental home with her children after her husband's death. Since her arrest, she has been held at Etawah jail, and her repeated desires to meet her firstborn, who now lives with his paternal aunt in Etawah, have not been fulfilled.

Outside the courtroom, Priyanka's family expressed acceptance of the verdict, though her aunt, Geeta Devi, remarked that Ashish should also have been hanged. Her father, Pramod Kumar, a barber, highlighted their financial inability to hire a lawyer or seek bail, stating their intention to approach the President for a pardon.