NEW YORK — U.S. authorities have arrested a 35-year-old Indian-origin woman from Hillsborough and charged her with the murder of her two young children, officials said Wednesday.
Investigators allege that Priyatharsini Natarajan caused the deaths of her two sons on Tuesday. She has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, according to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.
Prosecutor John McDonald said police were called to the family’s residence on the evening of January 13, after a 911 call was placed by a man believed to be the children’s father. He reported finding the boys, aged five and seven, unresponsive after returning home from work.
Police arrived at the scene and located the two children in a bedroom. Despite immediate efforts by officers and medical personnel, both children were pronounced dead at the residence. Their identities have not been publicly released pending confirmation by the medical examiner.
Natarajan was taken into custody by the Hillsborough Township Police Department and transported to the Somerset County Jail, where she is being held pending a detention hearing.
The investigation is being conducted jointly by the Hillsborough Township Police Department and the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, with assistance from the Major Crimes Unit, Crime Scene Investigation Unit, and medical investigators from the New Jersey Northern Regional Medical Examiner’s Office.
A post-mortem examination has been scheduled to formally identify the victims and determine the cause and manner of death. The case remains under investigation.