Paradip, Aug. 25: Police suspect poverty to be the reason behind a mother poisoning both her sons and herself at Pundanga village under Jagatsinghpur police limits.

Sabitri Soren, 32, a tribal migrant who had come to Jagatsinghpur to earn her living as a daily-wage earner, killed her four-year-old son, Sona, by poisoning and later tried to kill herself and her six-year-old elder son Shaan using the same method, said inspector of Jagatsinghpur police station Debendra Mallik.

While Sona was declared brought dead at the headquarters hospital here, Sabitri and her elder son are in a critical condition. Rama Soren, Sabitri's husband, was not at home when the incident took place. The couple were staying with relatives.

"Poverty might have instigated Sabitri to attempt suicide and kill her sons. We are investigating cause behind the incident. A case of unnatural death has been registered. We have seized a bottle of poison from near the house. The body of the deceased was sent to the district government hospital for autopsy," said Mallik.

Mallik said: "Since the condition of Sabitri is critical, we have not been able to record her statement yet. Nothing conclusive has emerged from questioning Rama Soren. From preliminary investigations, it appears that financial duress might have been the reason behind what Sabitri did. However, we are also examining whether marital discord could have been a reason behind the incident."

The couple were working as farm labourers and construction workers. The family was going through financial hardship. Rama had borrowed money from neighbours but was unable to pay them back. Sabitri was finding it increasingly difficult to run the four-member family that had migrated here from their native place in Keonjhar district four years ago, said a neighbour.

The residents of Pundanga village, where the family lived, are still in shock. "There were sociable and good-natured people. Poverty must have driven the mother to take such a step," he said.

On March 5, 2014, a 35-year-old woman had committed suicide and killed her eight-year-old daughter in a remote village of Kendrapara district because of extreme poverty.