Police granted custody extension for murdered teenagers' mother

POLICE investigating the murder of two teenage sisters whose bodies were found in Stretham have been granted a 36 hour extension of custody over their mother, who has been arrested on suspicion of their murder.

Rehka Kumari-Baker, 39, was arrested at her home at 2 The Crofters, Stretham on Wednesday morning is being held at Parkside Police Station in Cambridge.

She may now be held without charge until 4.30am on Saturday.

Davina Kumari-Baker, 16, and her 13-year-old sister Jasmine were found dead at their mother's house on Wednesday morning.

Officers made the grim discovery after a call was made from the scene of the murder to a member of the public and it was that person who alerted police.

A full investigation was launched and forensic teams spent the day searching for clues and interviewing neighbours.

Jasmine was a pupil at Cottenham Village College and Davina, had recently moved from the village college and is a pupil at Cambridge Regional College.

It appears that the girls were stabbed to death. Police have not officially confirmed the cause of deaths but the post mortem has been completed and they are expected to make an announcement about this later today (Friday). Det Supt Jeff Hill, who is leading the investigation, said at the scene on Wednesday, "Police were called to Stretham just after 8am this morning following reports of two dead teenage girls. We arrested a 39-year-old woman on suspicion of murder and she is in custody at Parkside Police Station and will be interviewed at some point tonight. It is too early to confirm the identity of the girls and their relationship to the woman in custody.

"Forensic teams are working painstakingly to find out as much as they can, but we are not looking for anyone else in connection with this incident. We would also like to assure people that we are here to help anyone who may be struggling to cope with any emotional stress that an incident like this can create."

Neighbours in the quiet village of Stretham, near Ely, said the family kept themselves to themselves.

"We rarely saw people coming or going from the house and it seems very unusual that something like this should happen in a friendly neighbourhood where everyone knows each other," said one neighbour.

Neighbour of three years, 67-year-old Abraham Narimissa, said: "I saw her drive by in her car at about 4pm yesterday and she looked normal. But I always thought that something wasn't quite right about her. She never spoke to anyone and I think I'm the only one in the area who has tried to speak to her. About a year ago, I asked her her name and she completely ignored me.

"This is really shocking and it makes me feel sick to think about those poor children. This is a beautiful village and you don't expect this kind of thing to happen here. Her garden was always a mess but in the last two months she has been taking care of it. I thought she had started taking an interest in life.