Mom kept dead son on ice for Hindu ritual, affidavit says

FRISCO, Texas - The lawyer for a North Texas woman accused of killing her son and leaving his body in the bathtub for four days is hoping that his client's sworn affidavit regarding her Hindu beliefs will help clear her name, reports the Star Local Media.

Pallavi Dhawan, 38, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her 10-year-old son, Arnav, almost three months ago. This week her attorney, David Finn, sent the news site a copy of a sworn affidavit given by Dhawan in which she described the events.

Dhawan said when she tried to wake her son for school on Jan. 29, he was cold and unresponsive. She said at first she thought her son was faking being asleep to get out of going to school, but when she picked him up to carry him to take a bath, she realized he was dead.

After checking Arnav's pulse and heartbeat and trying to perform CPR, the suspect said she went into a state of shock.

CBS New York reported in March that a medical examiner said Arnav's cause of death could not be determined, but Finn said the results trend "very, very heavily towards natural causes." The family said the boy had preexisting medical conditions.

In the affidavit, Dhawan says, "I proceeded to give [Arnav] his deceased bath according to Hindu customs, dressed him in his favorite clothes and kept his favorite toy next to him and I later put his head on his favorite pillow along with his favorite blanket."

Because her husband, Sumeet Dhawan, was out of town on business, Pallavi said she followed their cultural rituals to the best of her ability while waiting for him to return. She called her son's school saying that Arnav would not be in class but failed to say why, believing Sumeet had to be the one to make the declaration of death, according to the document.

For four days, she kept Arnav in the bathtub covered in baggies and grocery bags filled with ice. The mother said that she read him Hindu scripture.

She said that when her husband returned home, she left so he could be alone for a while to settle in before telling him about their son. Upon returning to the house, Pallavi said she found police there talking to Sumeet, according to the affidavit. That's when she notified him of Arnav's death and police went into the bathroom to find the body, according to Star Local Media.

"I was immediately separated from my husband, arrested, handcuffed, taken out to the back seat of the police car and they read me my rights," she said. "I didn't know what to make of it all, so I kept quiet and when asked if I had something to say I said something to the effect that 'you would not understand.'"

The affidavit concluded with Pallavi Dhawan again asserting her innocence.

"Finally, I want to make it perfectly clear to the world that I did not hurt Arnav," she said. "I did not kill Arnav. I did not murder Arnav. I did not drown or smother Arnav. I did not poison Arnav. I did not fail to render aid to Arnav at any time ... Most importantly, I loved Arnav with all of my heart and never would hurt him in any way, and I miss him very much."