Davina and Jasmine Kumari-Baker were murdered by their mother who stabbed them to death at their home in Stretham, Cambridgeshire, England, while they slept on 13 June 2007.[2] Rekha Kumari-Baker was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum tariff of 33 years.[1][3] In 2010 the BBC stated that the punishment was "one of the longest jail terms given to a woman in the UK in modern times."[4]

Murders

On the day of the murders, Rekha Kumari-Baker took her two daughters on a shopping trip to the Lakeside Centre, near Thurrock, Essex.[5]

The older daughter Davina, aged 16, was killed first, with Kumari-Baker stabbing her 39 times. The younger daughter Jasmine, aged 13, was found dead in her bed stabbed 29 times.[6] After the murder, Kumari-Baker called a friend of hers, who was a special constable, and admitted that she had murdered her children and said that she had "done something terrible".[5]

The prosecutor stated that Rekha Kumari-Baker killed the girls as a form of revenge against her ex-husband and father of the girls, David Baker.[7] The murderer had purchased kitchen knives, the murder weapons, from ASDA on 11 June.[2]

Judge Mr Justice Bean said that Rekha Kumari-Baker desired to "retaliate against David Baker and destroy the happiness in his life", but also said that her motive could not be fully determined by investigators.[8] He said that her defense was "flimsy and insubstantial".[9] The jury took 35 minutes to convict her.[10]

Council review

Cambridgeshire County Council conducted a review into the murders and found they could not have been prevented and listed recommendations for social workers in relation to the review.[4]

See also

  • Louise Porton – fellow British female double killer who murdered her two daughters in 2018

Cases of filicide attributed to revenge against an ex-spouse:

References

  1. ^ a b "Killer mother jailed for 33 years". BBC News. 22 September 2009. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  2. ^ a b "Mother Rekha Kumari-Baker sentenced to 33 years for murders of children". The Daily Telegraph. 23 September 2009. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  3. ^ "Restricted access - log in required". The Times online.[dead link‍]
  4. ^ a b "Two child murders in Cambridgeshire 'not preventable'". BBC News. 8 September 2010. Retrieved 15 November 2010.
  5. ^ a b "Mother: I've done something terrible... I've killed the kids". Evening Standard. 12 April 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  6. ^ "Mother jailed for killing teen daughters". News.com.au. 22 September 2009. Retrieved 15 November 2012.
  7. ^ Siddique, Haroon (21 September 2009). "Mother guilty of murdering daughters". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 January 2017.
  8. ^ "Father tells of loss as mother is jailed for at least 33 years". The Herald. 21 September 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  9. ^ "33-year jail term for killer mother". Evening Standard. 11 April 2012. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
  10. ^ "Killer mother jailed for 33 years". BBC News. 22 September 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2025.
Allikas: Https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rekha_Kumari-Baker
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