The Bulandshahr Police have apprehended a 15-year-old girl for the murder of her parents, who had been axed to death a fortnight ago.

The minor girl has confessed to the murder.

The teenager told the police that she hated the atmosphere at home and "was fed up with the violent behaviour" of her parents towards her. She said that her mother would frequently beat her up and also had an illicit relationship with a man.

The couple was found dead on March 15.

Bulandshahr SSP, Shlok Kumar, said, "The girl confessed to murdering her parents with an axe after lacing their food with a heavy dose of sleeping pills."

The police have also arrested the youth who arranged the pills and the shop owner, who sold the pills, under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

"It was a difficult case to crack as there were no clues. While checking the mobile phone of a family member, we could find that the minor girl had a communication with a man in December asking him to arrange sleeping pills and he refused," the officer said.

The police said that two days prior to the double murder, she had arranged a pack of 20 sleeping pills. "The girl mixed five tablets in the tea she prepared for her mother and 10 tablets in the milk for her 50-year-old father. The couple used to sleep outside their house while the accused and her younger sister had their beds inside the house," said the officer.

The police said that on the fateful night, the girl scaled the roof of a neighbour with the help of a ladder and came to the front of her house where she killed her parents by repeatedly hitting the axe on their heads. They died on the spot and she went back to sleep.

The girl has been sent to the juvenile home in Bulandshahr, while the two men were sent to jail after being produced in a local court.

The SSP said that the police have recovered the axe used for the killings. It was hidden in the heap of fodder in the house. (NS/IANS)