Gurugram, May 16: The woman who was arrested for allegedly killing her 8-year-old son revealed that she committed the crime in a fit of rage when he returned home from school in dirtied clothes and two of his books were missing, police said on Thursday. 

The accused, Poonam Devi, was arrested on Tuesday and was produced in court on Thursday. The court sent her to judicial custody, they said.

The police had earlier suspected that the woman killed her son after he came to know of her alleged illicit relationship with a man. 

"During the police interrogation, Devi revealed that on Monday, when her 8-year-old son Karthik returned from school, his clothes were smeared with wall putty and he had also lost two books. In a fit of rage, she first removed his clothes and made him stand outside their house," Assistant Commissioner of Police Varun Dahiya said. 

"When he insisted on going to some shop, she strangled him with her ‘chunni',” ACP Dahiya said.

The matter came to light on Monday when the police received a call from a private hospital regarding the death of a child, police said.

The victim's father, Arvind Kumar, who works as a labourer, spotted injury marks on the neck of his and claimed that he was murdered. Following this, he filed a complaint at the Sector 18 police station, police said.

In his complaint, he said that a neighbour informed him that his son had fallen ill. When he reached home, he found him saw lying unconscious and his wife was crying next to him. They rushed him to a hospital where the doctors declared him brought dead, they said.

During the investigation, the police identified the victim's mother, Devi as a suspect and arrested her. She later confessed to the crime and was in police remand for a day, they said.

The family hails from Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh, they added.

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New Delhi (PTI): The government has promulgated an ordinance to increase the strength of the Supreme Court from the present 34 judges to 38, including the Chief Justice of India.

The law ministry notified the ordinance on Saturday, which amended the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956, to increase the sanctioned strength of the top court.

So far, the sanctioned strength of the top court was 34, including the Chief Justice of India (CJI). Now, the number of judges has been increased by four, taking the sanctioned strength to 38.

The top court will now have 37 judges, other than the CJI.

With the apex court having two vacancies at present, and the ordinance coming into force immediately, the Supreme Court Collegium will now have to recommend six names for appointment as judges in the top court.

A bill will be brought in the Monsoon Session of Parliament to convert the ordinance – an executive order – into a law passed by Parliament.

The Union Cabinet had cleared a draft bill on May 5 to increase the number of apex court judges.

The strength of the Supreme Court was last increased from 30 to 33 (excluding the CJI) in 2019.

The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, as originally enacted in 1956, put the maximum number of judges (excluding the CJI) at 10.

This number was increased to 13 by the Supreme Court (Number of Judges), Amendment Act, 1960, and to 17 by another amendment to the law.

The Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Act, 1986, augmented the strength of judges from 17 to 25, excluding the CJI.

A fresh amendment in 2009 further increased the strength from 25 to 30.

Article 124(3) of the Constitution lists the qualifications required to become a Supreme Court judge.

An Indian citizen who has either served as a high court judge for at least five years, or as an advocate for 10 years, or is a distinguished jurist, can be appointed to the top court.

The strength of the Supreme Court is increased based on the recommendations of the CJI, who writes to the Union law minister. After consulting the finance ministry, the Department of Justice under the law ministry moves the Cabinet with a draft bill.