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Mother drowns children in family bath tub

A mother in Barcelona has been arrested on suspicion of drowning her two young children in the bathtub of the family home.

Published: 8 April 2013 12:32 CEST

Mother drowns children in family bath tub

Agents of Catalonia's police force on Sunday arrested the woman who allegedly drowned her two children aged eight and eleven.

The alleged infanticide took place at a home in the Barcelona neighbourhood of El Carmel, La Gaceta newspaper reported on Sunday.

The mother of the children is said to have been at home alone with her 11-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son at the time of the incident.

Police detained the 35-year-old mother of the children after she was seen wandering the street where she lived in a condition described by neighbours as "agitated".

When the Mossos d'Esquadra, or Catalonia's police, were called, they found two bodies in the main bedroom of the house.

Sources within the police told news agency EFE that autopsies and toxicology reports confirmed the children had been drowned.

Neighbours of the family told reporters the woman had called the father of the children to say she was ready to kill herself.

He then returned to the house to find his dead children.

Social services had apparently been in touch with the family recently because the parents seemed to be on the point of breaking up.

The family was also reported to be suffering financial difficulties.

One neighbour told EFE that the family were about to leave their home because they couldn't afford to pay the rent.

Police are now investigating if the mother had been abused by her husband.

A crowd of about 100 neighbours and interested onlookers gathered in front of the family's building where news of the alleged crime came out.

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Why has the expansion of Barcelona airport prompted mass protests?

People march during a demonstration against the expansion of the Barcelona-El Prat airport. Photo: Pau BARRENA / AFP

Several ecological and agricultural organisations, have demanded that the expansion be stopped due to the fact nearby wetlands and farms would have to be destroyed.

The demonstration took place on Calle Tarragona in the Catalan capital between Plaça d’Espanya and Plaça dels Països Catalans.

The protests still took place, even though last week, Spain suspended the €1.7 billion airport expansion project, citing differences with the Catalan government, after president Pere Aragonès said he wanted to avoid destroying La Ricarda lagoon, a natural reserve next to the airport.

Environmentalists decided not to call off the march, in case plans for the airport expansion still went ahead.

READ ALSO: Six things you need to know about Barcelona airport’s €1.7 billion planned expansion

Political representatives from ERC, En Comú Podem and the CUP also attended, as well as the leader of Más País, Íñigo Errejón; the Deputy Mayor for Ecology of the Barcelona City Council, Janet Sanz, and the Mayor of El Prat de Llobregat, Lluís Mijoler.

People from neighbourhoods across the city marched towards Calle Tarragona and could be seen holding placards that read “Nature yes, airport no and shouting slogans such as “More courgettes and fewer planes” and “Fighting for the climate, health, and life”.

One of the largest groups of people were those from El Prat de Llobregat, the municipality which is home to the airport, who were led by tractors.

People march during a demonstration against the expansion of Barcelona-El Prat airport. Photo by Pau BARRENA / AFP

In addition to protesting against the expansion of the El Prat airport, people were also demonstrating against the Winter Olympic Games in the Pyrenees and extensions to airports in Mallorca and Madrid.

A representative of Zeroport, Sara Mingorría said “We are here to defend not only La Ricarda, but the entire Delta”.

The philosopher Marina Garcés also argued that the expansion of the airport would mean “more borders, more mass tourism, more control and more precarious jobs.”

The leader of the commons in the Catalan parliament, Jéssica Albiach, who also attended the protest, asked the PSOE for “coherence”: “You cannot be passing a law against climate change and, at the same time, defend the interests of Aena [the airport operations company]”, she said.

She also urged the leader of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, to “definitely say no”.

If the airport expansion in Barcelona goes ahead, environmentalists say that CO2 emissions would rise by a minimum of 33 percent. These levels would surpass the limits set by the Catalan government’s climate targets.

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