Woman in 911 call says she strangled her autistic children

[alp227]

Source: CNN

(CNN) -- An Irving, Texas, woman told a 911 operator that she strangled her two young children Monday because they were autistic, according to a recording of the call.

Saiqa Akhter, 30, has been charged with a single count of capital murder in the deaths of her 2-year-old daughter and 5-year-old son, police said.

Dallas County Police spokeswoman Jamille Bradfield said the single count covered a child under 5 and would probably be changed either to include multiple victims or to add a count.

"I'm just not sure which direction the police will go yet," she said.

A woman who identified herself as Akhter called police Monday evening and said she first tried to kill her children with bathroom cleaner, but they would not drink it. She told the 911 operator that she then strangled them with a wire and that they were on her bed.

Police and paramedics tried to resuscitate the children, but Zain Akhter died at the hospital Monday, and his younger sister, Faryaal Akhter, died at the hospital Tuesday evening, according to authorities.

Read more: http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/07/22/texas.autistic.children.killed/index.html

---

WOW. This is one very evil woman right here. Akhter makes that anti-vax quacktress Jenny McCarthy look very professional and well-informed. Akhter is currently being jailed on $1 million bail. Kids with disabilities need love and compassion rather than a total loss of life and constant reminders that they're worthless.

[sakabatou]

1. Sicko...

What kind of woman/mother is she?

[lumberjack_jeff]

2. WTF does this have to do with Jenny McCarthy?

Seriously.

[boppers]

9. Jenny McCarthy spewed a constant stream of bile about autism spectrum disorders.

Most of what she spewed had no basis in reality, leading me to the conclusion that sometimes ASD comes from having parents who are incredibly stupid, requiring a different kind of thinking in a child's development to deal with growing up with them.

[TheDebbieDee]

3. I disagree, Alp227. The mother isn't evil - she's mentally ill!

It's too bad, especially for her children, that she didn't get the help she needed.

[babylonsister]

5. Exactly. Remember the woman in Houston who drowned a bunch

of her own children (5?)? There's something loose there.

[alp227]

8. Mentally ill woman killing her mentally ill children...interesting perspective...

CNN quoted her saying that she didn't want her kids to be autistic. Also, she's been reprimanded by CPS before. Could it be that she's either having mental issues, or is she deliberately negligent?

[sendero]

15. Come on..

... anyone who could strangle her own kids is BY DEFINITION mentally ill.

That does not mean I don't think she has to answer for it, just that "sane" does not compute.

[AngryAmish]

17. Is a man who rapes his BY DEFINITION daughter mentally ill?

I think your patriarchy is showing.

[Heidi]

32. Autism is not a mental illness. (nt)

[mzteris]

4. mental illness - not "evil" . . .

maybe those around her should have sought intervention and treatment for her. I deplore what was done to those poor children, but we have to start recognizing mental illness when it stares us in the face. It does not help anyone to declare her "evil" - while to recognize and educate people on the symptoms of mental illness can save many.

[Delphinus]

14. You are so correct.

There is no system for this and it would be a slippery slope if there were, but you're right - there is a difference between "evil" and mental illness.

[demigoddess]

29. was there anyone around her?? 2 handicapped children can

drive people, even relatives, off. I have raised a handicapped child for almost 40 years. relatives won't visit, do not want us to visit, etc. my child has stumped teachers, doctors, nurses etc. whenever I asked for help in some area, so you can imagine what this lady is going through. add to that any mental illness ( i have depression etc) and you put that woman in deep doo doo. We need to help people like her more and pontificate after the fact a lot less.

[Jennicut]

6. She was probably depressed. I have suffered from depression my whole life.

I have two kids. The minute I get really, really down and have a big depressive episode, I call my Mom or a friend. Ever suffered from suicidal thoughts? Thoughts that you are useless and it would be better to just end it all, right here and right now? That really does a number on your mind. And when thoughts turn to you thinking you are worthless I can see how they turn to thoughts that you are not a good mother. Children that age are very vulnerable around people with untreated mental illness. I have been on meds for 14 years but even those only do so much. I bet she was severely mentally ill and refused to admit it and get help. It is stigmatized 100 times more in different cultures then even in the US and in the US it is still stigmatized.

[mike r]

7. Insane. Like the Dallas woman who killed her 10-month-old daughter by cutting off her arms

with a kitchen knife:
http://www.kwtx.com/home/headlines/92043599.html

[Rozlee]

10. What is it with Texas and wacky, murderous Moms?

We may never secede, but at this rate, we'll probably get kicked out of the Union.

[onager]

21. For comedy relief, I present Wanda Holloway...

a/k/a the Texas Would-Be Cheerleader Murdering Mom...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wanda_Holloway

In a close tie with Celeste Beard, whose story had EVERYTHING: Texas, a sugar daddy, extreme White Trashery, a shotgun-toting lesbian lover, and a pair of twins so scared of Mom that they testified against her in court before she could have them whacked...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Celeste_Beard

[barb162]

23. It happens in every state...fathers do it too.

To me at least, there is no point bashing TX.
http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/162/9/1578

[boppers]

11. It's not an isolated thing.

http://www.acf.hhs.gov/programs/cb/pubs/cm06/figure4_2.htm

[MannyGoldstein]

12. There is no excusing this, but...

It's horrible beyond words.

Raising an autistic child is extraordinarily difficult - totally turns your life upside down. They require constant attention, and it's difficult to get away for any period of time as few sitters are equipped to handle these children. Someone needs to be home all the time, so the second spouse can't work. And so forth.

Brutal.

I'm not excusing this, it was an evil act, but I do have compassion.

[lumberjack_jeff]

13. +1

[Lightning Count]

18. That's a dangerous road....

Like a colicky child might be more stressful as well, but to a different degree or any special needs child for that matter. Not sure if I can drum up much compassion especially given her comments.

[crim son]

16. Mentally ill and pissed off.

Trying to get your kids to drink bathroom cleaner is an astonishingly cruel act and suggests more than suicidal depression (with which I'm intimately familiar). Horrible story.

[Lightning Count]

19. Is autism or special needs in general looked down upon in some religions?

Like not having a perfect male heir? I'm curious.

[Ian David]

20. Yes. For example, in chrisTianity.

Disabled Kids are God’s Punishment? Seriously?

Some stories make me really angry. Some make me really sad. This one accomplishes both. First, the part that makes me angry.

State Delegate Bob Marshall of Manassas, Virginia says disabled children are God’s punishment to women who have aborted their first pregnancy. He made that statement last week at a press conference to oppose state funding for Planned Parenthood.

“The number of children who are born subsequent to a first abortion with handicaps has increased dramatically. Why? Because when you abort the first born of any, nature takes its vengeance on the subsequent children,” said Marshall. “In the Old Testament, the first born of every being, animal and man, was dedicated to the Lord. There’s a special punishment Christians would suggest.”

This particular Christian would suggest nothing of the kind. Mr. Marshall’s declaration of God’s intent is staggering in it’s arrogance. Is every child born after the mother has had an abortion delivered with handicaps? Of course not. Are some children born with handicaps to moms who never had an abortion? Of course. Joni and I are the parents of a little girl who was born with a profound birth defect. She lived eighteen months. Joni never had an abortion. But we did have a Christian “friend” who suggested that there might be sin in our lives that led to her birth defect. That was really helpful. Some of the events surrounding her birth and life led to my first book, When Bad Christians Happen to Good People.

More:
http://www.daveburchett.com/2010/03/02/disabled-kids-are-gods-punishment-seriously/


See also:

Mark 9:17, 25
And one of the multitude answered and said, Master, I have brought unto thee my son, which hath a dumb spirit. Jesus ... rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/mk/9.html#17

John 9:1-3
As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/jn/9.html#1

Exodus 4:11
Who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD?
http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/ex/4.html#11

[Lightning Count]

22. I have a feeling this is prevalent in all fundy religions. nt

[tammywammy]

25. This mother wasn't a Christian, so I doubt that's a factor. n/t

[proteus_lives]

26. Don't interrupt the five-minute hate.

:eyes:

[Ian David]

27. Didn't say she was. See also:

Ethnic and religious perspectives on disability and the helping professions
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6W64-4DGM6DF-3&_user=10&_coverDate=12%2F31%2F2004&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1409986085&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=3becc8f70d059f3bb4aa7ce2b8c265f0

God in a wheelchair: How religious views of disability are evolving
http://www.vancouversun.com/health/wheelchair+religious+views+disability+evolving/2706560/story.html

Jett Travolta: Victim of Autism, Kawasaki, or Scientology?
http://www.nowpublic.com/health/jett-travolta-victim-autism-kawasaki-or-scientology

[boppers]

30. wasn't a Christian?

Are you saying you have knowledge of her religion, and that christ wasn't part of her religion?

Jewish?
Buddhist?
Hindu?

[tammywammy]

33. I'm going to take a giant leap

Since her children were buried after a ceremony at a mosque, I'm going to stick with "not a Christian."

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/072310dnmetirvingmom.b919c01.html

"Dozens of mourners gathered at the Dallas Central Mosque in Richardson for a brief service for 2-year-old Faryaal Akhter, who died Tuesday night after being taken off life support. The family buried her 5-year-old brother, Zain Akhter, a day earlier."

[boppers]

34. Bzzt! Muslims believe in a prophet called Issa, aka, Jesus Christ.

Muslims are Christians, in the sense that they believe in, and worship, on the same line as many other Abrahamic faiths, and consider Jesus Christ to be one of the prophets in their faith.

Read up:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesus_in_Islam

[HockeyMom]

24. Support systems

We live in a different society now where so many young mothers are so isolated. I am not condoning what this woman did, but I do recognize that she, and so many other young mothers, need help. We no longer have extended families to pick up the slack.

My daughter had colic and would scream (literally) for hours and hours. I did not live near my family. Fortunately, I had a neighbor who was an older woman. She told me anytime my daughter got too much, I could drop her off at her house and just get away from the situation for a while. I did do this many a time, just to get out for a while, and just take a walk and let my nerves calm down.

Women with special needs kids need this. I have worked with special needs children, adults, and yes, autistic kids. It can be very, very challenging. Fortunately, in this field it is recognized that staff also needs "time out" when things get very stressful. There is nothing to be ashamed about this. We are all human.

Unfortunately, this woman did not have the back up she so needed. Very, very sad.

[RFKHumphreyObama]

28. It's easy to cast judgment

And there's no denying that what she did was a heinously, hideously, horrifically evil and sickening thing and my heart aches for those poor children. May they rest in peace

At the same time I suspect there were a number of factors involved in what happened here and, while none of them excuse this shocking act, it is necessary that we evaluate and understand what went on before reaching a conclusion so perhaps we can be better aware of why these things happen so we can -if possible -take steps to prevent it in the future

[ZombieHorde]

31. "I suspect there were a number of factors involved in what happened here"

Don't you think this is true for all murders?