Portuguese woman sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for drowning two daughters

A Portuguese woman accused of deliberately drowning her two young daughters in Oeiras, suburbs of Lisbon, in February last year, was sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment on Wednesday, local media reported.

The three judges at Cascais court ruled that Sonia Lima "entered the sea with her daughters with the intention of taking their lives" and she "acted freely, deliberately and consciously and knew that it was the conduct punishable by law".

According to Portuguese law, the maximum 25 years of imprisonment was handed to the 38-year-old woman though she was sentenced 22 years in prison for one count of murder.

Lima was also sentenced to pay the compensation of 103,000 euros, of which 60,000 euros is for the girls' father Nelson Ramos.

At the first trial hearing, Lima dismissed the charge and explained that she had taken her daughters to urinate on the beach rocks.

Lima separated with Ramos in November 2015 and later on she behaved aggressively towards the two girls. They expressed fear of their mother after the split of the couple.

On Feb. 15 of 2016, Lima took her two daughters in her car to a beach in Oeiras after driving around in Lisbon and entered the sea with the two girls.

The body of the 19-month-old daughter was found on the same day while his sister's body was recovered seven days later. 

source: Xinhua