Texas Mom Described Strangling Her 2 Autistic Kids

Texas Mom Described Strangling Her 2 Autistic Kids

On 911 Call, She Said She Wanted 'Normal' Children

July 22, 2010



A Texas woman has been charged with murder after allegedly strangling her two young children and then describing the crime to a 911 dispatcher.

The Texas mom said she killed her autistic kids because she wanted normal ones.

Saiqa Akhter, 30, called 911 Monday at 5:08 p.m. and told the dispatcher, "I killed my both kids."

In an edited recording of the 911 call, she described how she first tried to poison the children, ages 2 and 5, with bathroom cleaner.

"I put in their mouth, but they don't drink it," Akhter said.

When that didn't work, she said she looked for an alternate means of killing them.

"So there is a wire in here, so I just grabbed their necks," Akhter told the dispatcher. "Then, they were no more."

By the time paramedics responded, both children were unconscious, ABC News Dallas affiliate WFAA-TV reported. According to police, Akhter was the only person home at the time, but her husband, Rashid Akhter, met authorities at the scene.

Zain, 5, was prounounced dead at a hospital, and Faraal, 2, was placed on life support but died at 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday, according to the Dallas County medical examiner's office.

When asked why she strangled her kids, Akhter told the 911 dispatcher, "Both are autistic. I don't want my kids to be like that. I want normal kids."

Akhter was arraigned on a charge of capital murder of a person under 6 years of age on Wednesday morning at the Irving city jail. She is being held at the Dallas County jail with bail set at $1 million.

Because her daughter also died, she will face a second charge.

Her attorney is Richard Franklin of Dallas, according to the Dallas County jail. Franklin did not immediately return a call from ABCNews.com.

Rashid Akhter is not being charged with any crimes, according to Irving city police.

'Extraordinarily High' Stress Levels on Parents of Autistic Kids

Autism experts said that while they were saddened by the story, it was not completely unexpected.

"That a family got to that point of stress is unfortunately not uncommon," Marguerite Colston, vice president of constituent relations at the Autism Society, told ABCNews.com.

The Autism Society is a national grassroots organization that provides support groups for parents, education programs for professionals and public awareness campaigns.

"The stress levels on parents are extraordinarily high," she said, adding that one study found that "stress levels were comparable to combat soldiers.'"

"You're now a case manager and a specialist, and it's almost like you're not a parent anymore," Colston said.

Dr. John Lutzker, director of the Center for Healthy Development at Georgia State University and an expert in child maltreatment and autism, said dealing with autistic children can result in mental health problems for parents.

http://abcnews.go.com/US/texas-mom-told-911-strangling-autistic-children/story?id=11227619&page=1

http://edition.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/07/23/autism.death.mother/#fbid=ynjCBclVOAc

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2010/07/22/2010-07-22_dallas_mom_saiqa_akhter_killed_her_two_children_because_they_were_autistic_911_r.html