The adoptive parents of Indian girl Sherin Mathews, who was found dead in Texas last year, relinquished custody and parental rights to their 4-year-old biological daughter. Wesley Mathews, the father, has been charged with capital murder of Sherin while mother Sini Mathews has been charged with child abandonment.
The relinquishment would be irrevocable and the couple is forbidden from meeting the girl without supervision. The biological daughter has been living with relatives in Houston, who may adopt her. Last month, a Dallas judge stopped the Wesleys from having contact with the biological daughter after prosecutors said that they failed to protect Sherin.
“[Sini Mathews] made the extremely difficult decision to give up her parental rights because given the circumstances and the pending criminal cases, this is in the best interests of the child. She wants what’s best for her remaining daughter,” attorney Mitch Nolte who represents Sini Mathews said, according to NBCDFW.
Sherin Mathews, 3, was found dead in a culvert in October 2017. Wesley had initially said that he forced her to stand outside in the middle of the night for refusing to drink milk. Later, he said that he physically assisted Sherin to drink milk and watched her choke to death before taking the body out to dispose it in the culvert.
However, autopsy reports revealed that the death was a homicide and Sherin’s bones were in different stages of healing.
Earlier in January, Wesley was indicted for capital murder, in addition to charges of injuring a child, abandoning a child and tampering with evidence. Sini denied knowing about the incidents and was charged with child abandonment only. If the capital murder charge is proven, Wesley can face death penalty or life sentence.
“During the commission of the offense, defendant did use a deadly weapon, the exact nature and description of which is not known to the Grand Jury,” the indictment by the grand jury said on Jan. 12, according to the Dallas County Court in Texas.
The indictment also states that Mathews “did intentionally and knowingly cause the death of Sherin Mathews” on or around Oct. 7, 2017, in a manner and means unknown to the Grand Jury.