[Above: Seetha...told her husband that she wanted to 'see her dead brother and wanted to be with him'. Two of Seetha's children: Darshini (left) and Usha Rani.]

By Wani Muthiah and Christina Tan

KLANG, MALAYSIA - Unable to stand the grief of losing her youngest brother in a police shoot-out recently, a housewife gave her four children drinks laced with weedkiller, telling them: "Let's go see uncle."

R. Seetha, 33, also downed a glass of the deadly poison at her parents' Kg Berempat home in Kapar near here.

Seetha's brother Surenthiran, 24, was one of five suspected robbers and alleged member of the PCO Boy gang killed during a police shootout on Saturday night.

According to Seetha's sister Parvathy, one of their siblings Sumathi, had seen Seetha and her children drinking the poisonous concoction at about 8.30am yesterday.

"Sumathi ran to grab the drinks away from them. She also screamed for help to rush my sister to a clinic in Kapar before they were brought to the hospital," said Parvathy, 28, when met at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital here where the family had been warded.

Seetha is fighting for her life at the emergency unit while two of her children Darshini, nine, and Yugendran, five, were unconscious at the intensive care unit at press time.

Hospital sources said Seetha's condition was fast deteriorating as the weedkiller had severely damaged her internal organs.

Two other children Usha Rani, seven, and Navina, three, were warded at the children's ward.

Seetha's lorry driver husband M. Manimaran, 35, said his wife had told him on Wednesday night how she longed to see her brother and yearned to be with him.

"I did not take it seriously and am still unable to understand why she did something like this," said Manimaran, adding that Seetha was exceptionally close with Surenthiran.

Seetha is the third child whilst Surenthiran was the eighth sibling in a family of nine children.

Seetha, Manimaran and their children, who live in Gemenceh in Negeri Sembilan, had come to her parents' house to attend Surenthiran's funeral.

Seetha's father R. Ramapathy, 61, said his daughter was unable to accept the manner in which her favourite brother died.

"At the funeral, there was a lot of talk about how he was shot by policemen. This upset her," he added.

Ramapathy added that his wife R. Saraswathy, 54, was inconsolable and shattered over what had happened.

"We lost our eldest son in an accident not long ago, to be followed by Surenthiran's shocking death and now we may lose Seetha and our grandchildren," said Ramapathy who was standing vigil outside the emergency unit.

One of Seetha's younger brothers Arulmurugan, 27, said his sister was a very sensitive person who had gone through a rough spell recently.

Klang district police chief Asst Comm Mohamad Mat Yusop said police were investigating the case as attempted suicide.

Federal CID Director Comm Datuk Seri Bakri Zinin had said on Tuesday the police were not a trigger happy lot and had only opened fire to stop deadly threats.

--The Star/ANN