The high court on Tuesday granted bail to a mother accused of killing her two baby daughters by throwing them into a pond, taking cognisance of the “torture” she had faced from her husband and in-laws.

“The court never grants bail to those accused of such a heinous crime. But in this case, the judge considered the mental state of a homemaker who had been regularly tortured mentally and physically by her in-laws and granted her bail,” said a legal expert who watched the proceedings.

Sima Sain was arrested four months ago for allegedly throwing her daughters — one eight months old, the other two-and-a-half years old — into a pond in Belur. Her husband Kanchan and in-laws were torturing her for failing to conceive a boy, according to her lawyers Jaymalya Bagchi and R.L. Chakraborty.

The 25-year-old woman married Kanchan Sain, a well-off trader from Khandaghosh in Burdwan, in 2003. He and his relatives allegedly started torturing her in early 2006 after Sima gave birth to her elder daughter. After 22 months, when she gave birth to another girl, they “confined her and the two babies to a room and termed her a witch”.

“We informed the court that Sima’s in-laws did not look after her younger daughter for the eight months she had lived. They did not even bother to find out whether the mother and the babies were getting food or not. The situation had created hatred in Sima’s mind. She was also overcome by guilt,” said Bagchi.

On March 3, Sima, along with her husband and children, travelled to Liluah to attend a programme at a relative’s house. The next day, they visited a temple in Belur. According to an FIR lodged by Kanchan, Sima later threw the babies into the pond. On March 6, she was arrested.

The lawyers, too, said the judges granted Sima bail considering the trauma she suffered at the hands of her in-laws.

“Let the investigators prove that Sima committed the crime. Isn’t it possible that her in-laws themselves killed the babies they hated so much?” asked Bagchi. “Even if it is proved that the woman is guilty of the crime, we have to consider under what circumstances a mother will decide to kill her daughters.”

Public prosecutor Ashimesh Chakraborty opposed Sima’s plea before Justice A. Talukdar and Justice P.S. Banerjee.