A Papua New Guinean woman is in custody after allegedly admitting to police she drowned her four young children.
The woman from the city of Mount Hagen, Western Highlands Province, turned herself in to police after her relatives recovered the four bodies from the Kum River on Saturday.
PNG's National newspaper reported the woman told police she was fed up with her husband's constant drug abuse and his neglect of her and his children, aged eight, seven, five and two-and-a-half.
Chief Inspector Peter Roari told the paper the woman was in custody, had admitted the crime, but had not yet been charged.
Roari said he believed it was PNG's worst case of infanticide and police were investigating the possibility others were involved.
Local MP Benjamin Mul was outraged by the deaths and called for the death penalty.
"(She) should not live in our society as she poses a great risk to our children," he said.
