The mother of three South African children, who were found dead in their new Timaru home after recently emigrating to New Zealand, was arrested on September 17.
Read also: Update: Mother of SA kids who were found dead in New Zealand, arrested
The bodies of twin girls Maya and Karla, 2, and their older sister Liane, 6 were discovered by their father, Dr Graham Dickason, when he came home from work, as Stuff reports.
According to several reports, it is alleged that the children were strangled with cable ties.
The most recent insight into the investigation suggests that the mother of the deceased was off of her chronic medication to meet the country’s strict immigration criteria.
Graham and his wife Lauren, who is also a doctor, and their children moved to New Zealand last month and had been in Timaru for just a week after coming out of New Zealand’s strictly managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ). During this time, one cannot leave their hotel room except for an hour of exercise in a courtyard per day.
The latest news follows a psychiatric evaluation on Lauren which was ordered after a short court appearance in a Timaru court on Saturday.
Read also: SA mom sent for psychiatric evaluation following the alleged murder of three daughters
It is alleged that the mother stopped taking her medication to increase her chances of a successful immigration application.
New Zealand has strict requirements and potential immigrants can be turned down on the basis of a chronic illness, or if they do not meet “an acceptable standard of health,” reports IOL.
According to reports, a former colleague of Lauren’s, a doctor at Pretoria East Hospital, said the following:
“She isn’t an evil person, she was pushed outside her limits…but I think it might have been the extreme circumstances. Her mum isn’t there, her family isn’t there…who will know, we weren’t there, not one of us. ….perhaps they didn’t anticipate what it would mean to leave everything behind and go.
“Here [Mooikloof Heights Estate, Pretoria] she had a nanny, a domestic worker and a gardener who all helped in and around the house.”
The mother is expected back in court on October 5, according to Reuters.
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Picture: Facebook/ Graham Dickason