Hyderabad, Jun 16 (IANS): In a shocking incident, mentally disabled twins were killed by their maternal uncle here, who wanted to relieve his sister from the hardships of looking after the them, police said on Saturday.

Srijana Reddy and her twin brother Vishnuvardhan Reddy, both aged 12, were strangulated to death by Mallikarjun Reddy in his rented house in the city's Chaitanyapuri area late Friday.

According to the police, the incident came to light when the house owner noticed the accused along with two others trying to shift the bodies in his car.

He alerted the police and they arrested Mallikarjun, his friend Venkatrami Reddy and car driver Vivek Reddy.

Mallikarjun had brought the children from their Nalgonda on Friday. He had told his sister Lakshmi and brother-in-law Srinivas Reddy that he will teach the children to swim.

The parents told the police that the twins were mute and also mentally disabled since birth.

The accused confessed to the crime and told them that he could not let his sister suffer the hardships of looking after the mentally disabled children.

The couple did not lodge a police complaint against Mallikarjun.