A mother opted to strangle her three daughters to death rather than having her ex-partner getting them.
Allegedly, she decided to kill them as her ex-partner may do something terrible to them should the courts grant him custody. But no exact details were given.
Sources say that the children aged nine and three years old and an 8-month old were discovered in a flat in Vienna's Donaustadt district, reported The Sun.
Is she a victim of domestic violence?
According to the Austrian police, they will start an inquiry into the case of the 31-year-old woman who called the emergency hotline. The call came on Saturday at 5:20 a.m.
During the call, the woman claimed that her children were dead, and she was contemplating suicide, said Reuters.
Officers went to the address traced by the operator, and a woman with self-inflicted wounds but not life-threatening was arrested.
The nine-year-old girl had shown signs of life and was immediately brought to the hospital, where she eventually died.
Wiener Zeitung reports that at the start of the inquiry, they found out that the three girls were smothered by their mother.
An Austrian news outlet said that the mother and children were separated from her ex-husband by a court order. The husband was suspected of committing domestic violence against his wife, who wanted the separation.
Also read: Hell in a Cell: Convicted Child Killer and Pedophile Almost Killed by Inmates Who Stab Him
Unfortunately, the court order that prevents him from going near his wife and family ended in September. The 31-year-old mother was worried if he would press for a divorce, and she would lose her children.
One report cited the woman was in dire straits after giving birth to her youngest child. Psychologically, she was not in the best condition, noted the source.
According to Police spokeswoman Andrea Friemel, the Viennese child and youth welfare service had known what was happening to the family and their situation. The office has been in contact with the parent.
Despite claims by the wife of her husband's actions, the police representative said it was not evident during their communication with the ex-partner. The woman's claims were unproven to the authorities, who were unimpressed.
But the police spokeswoman said that the mother taking her children's lives was unexpected as well.
After the incident, the police released an official statement, "Today in the early hours of the morning a woman, aged 31, called the police emergency number and stated that she had just killed her children and now wanted to kill herself."
Police added that a search in the home of the mother had them finding two young girls, one aged eight months, and another aged three years old, both were dead.
A third child, aged nine years old, died in the hospital. More information revealed that a criminal investigation is underway at the crime scene.
The mother responsible for strangling her three daughters has been silent. The alleged violent ex-partner has yet to talk as well.
Related article: Pregnant Woman Stabbed and Killed by Violent Partner Young Daughter Sees
