{
  "id": 10392577,
  "title": "She killed a toddler, but court spares her death penalty: ‘Let children not lose mother’",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/09/28/she-killed-a-toddler-but-court-spares-her-death-penalty-let-children",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-09-28T07:34:23.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Indian Express",
    "slug": "the-indian-express",
    "url": "https://indianexpress.com/article/legal-news/killed-toddler-court-spares-death-penalty-children-not-lose-mother-10897206/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Punjab and Haryana High Court recently reduced a woman's death sentence to 30 years of rigorous imprisonment for killing a toddler in November 2021. The court reasoned that although a mother had lost her daughter, the accused's children should not lose their mother \"to a point of no return.\" The court cited the need to give the children \"some hope.\" The woman, Neelam, was accused of killing a two-year-old girl after her neighbor told her the toddler's family bought things for their children, prompting her own children to make similar demands. Neelam allegedly abducted and buried the child in a pit, claiming she acted alone in the crime. The court upheld her conviction, noting that while the crime was \"gruesome,\" capital punishment was not the only appropriate sentence. The court stated that Neelam, who had children of her own and showed no disorderly behavior, could be reformed and reintegrated into society.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [
    "Woman Neelam sentenced to death for killing toddler in 2021",
    "Punjab and Haryana High Court reduces death penalty to 30 years",
    "Court considers impact on Neelam's own children and possibility of reform"
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}