Baghdad mother throws toddlers into Tigris river

Warning: Some viewers may find the above footage disturbing.

BAGHDAD, Iraq — A surveillance camera in Baghdad has documented the moment a mother threw her two toddlers into the Tigris river from a bridge.

The bodies of Hur Mohammed, 3, and Masuma Mohammed, one year and eight months, remain undiscovered since the incident in the early hours of October 17. The mother has been arrested by security forces.

The father and relatives are in shock following the horrific accident, and sit idly by watching the river, desperate to find the bodies.

The family claims the mother ended the lives of her children, because of the father’s seeking out of a divorce which took place in  late September.

“This crime had been long planned for. It has been nearly two months since this woman separated from her husband,” said Abu Tahsin Deraji, the children’s paternal grandparent.

“In January this year, we caught the woman with her lover. [...] We took her back to her parents house and told them 'this is your daughter. We want to divorce her in court.' They agreed. We never spoke about this matter in any place, nor did we show the photographs to anyone,” he added

The tragedy took place on Al-Aimmah Bridge, which connects the areas of Adhamiya, a majority Sunni area, with the Shiite area of Kadhimiya.

“This catastrophe reverberated through the sky. I am now 57 years old. I have never heard of a calamity such as a mother throwing her children into the river,“ Nasir Walid, a resident of Adhamiya.

Reporting by Mustafa Goran. 

Translation by Zhelwan Z. Wali