A two-and-a-half-year-old girl, Samruddhi Sakpal, was killed by her 29-year-old mother, Pooja Sakpal, who then died by suicide in their Dombivli home on Sunday around 8pm. The incident was discovered when Pooja’s 35-year-old husband, Rahul Sakpal, returned home. He found Pooja hanging and Samruddhi unresponsive on the bed. He alerted neighbours and police, but both were declared dead at a nearby hospital.

Vijay Kadbane, senior police inspector of the Manpada police said, “We were carrying out Panchanama and questioning the neighbours. We are now trying to ascertain why Pooja took the extreme step and why she smothered her daughter.”