DALLAS - (McClatchy-Tribune) -- An Irving, Texas, mother accused of strangling her two children with an antenna wire told a 911 operator that she killed them because they were not "normal."
"Both are autistic," she said. "I don't want my kids to be like that. I want normal kids."
Saiqa Akhter, 30, was arraigned Wednesday morning on a single charge of capital murder in the death of her 5-year-old son Zain, who died Monday. Family members have said the boy was autistic and had a speech impediment.
Irving officials canceled a second arraignment Wednesday afternoon in the death of her 2-year-old daughter, Faryaal, who died Tuesday evening a day after she was revived and placed on life support.
Akhter called 911 about 5 p.m. Monday from the family's apartment.
In the 911 tape, released Wednesday, Akhter admits to wrapping a wire around the children's necks until they turned blue. Before that, she said she tried to make them drink bathroom cleaner.
"I put in their mouth, but they don't drink it," she said.
While still on the phone with the 911 operator, she washed her hands to get rid of the smell of the household cleaner.
Police found the children lying on a bed in the family's second-floor apartment along with an antenna wire they believe was used to kill the children, according to a probable-cause affidavit. Also listed among the items removed from the home were a pillow, a section of mattress and a bottle of household cleaner.
Akhter's uncle said his niece had been depressed since moving into the new apartment and reported "strange things" inside the family's home.
"It looks like she had mental problems," said Wasimul Haque, who did not elaborate on what Saiqa Akhter said she had seen. "I don't understand why she did it."
Zain, the 5-year-old, had autism and suffered from a severe speech impediment but had been improving, the uncle said. He said the boy had been in speech therapy.
Faryaal also had health problems and was rushed to the emergency room last year with a respiratory issue. A stethoscope was also taken from the home.
The children's father, Rashid Akhter, emigrated from Pakistan in the late 1990s. He married Saiqa several years later, and she then moved here. He works as a computer technician.
"He did whatever he can do with his wife to keep her happy all the time," Haque said.
The family was the subject of a Child Protective Services investigation last year after Zain was left alone at home while his parents rushed his sister to a hospital to be treated for breathing problems.
An agency spokeswoman said there were no signs of neglect or abuse.
(c) 2010, The Dallas Morning News
**********edited to add link to the mom's 911 call****
http://media2.myfoxdfw.com/video/2010/07/21/911irving.wav
Wow, I don't even know where to begin on this one. First of all, my 4 year old son has non-verbal autism, and while his diagnosis was a shock for me, I would never harm him. I love my son more than my life, and without him, my life has no meaning. It is stressful raising an autistic child, and this woman did have 2 kids with autism, but she also has a HUSBAND, I am doing this on my own (with my mom) without any day to day help from his dad.
This woman obviously needed help and I can't imagine why she didn't get the help that she needed. I do think that unlike Andrea Yates who had a mental illness when she killed her children and was sent to a mental hospital, this evil wench deserves to sit her fat ass on death row for the rest of her miserable life.
