Friends pay tribute to murdered girls

Friends paid tributes to two murdered teenagers today as police questioned their mother over the deaths.

Davina Kumari-Baker, 16, and her 13-year-old sister Jasmine were found dead at their mother Rekha's house at Stretham, near Ely, yesterday morning.

They are believed to have died of stab wounds but post mortem examinations are due to be carried out later today to confirm the precise cause of death.

Mrs Kumari-Baker, 39, was arrested at the house and Det Suptendent Jeff Hill, who is leading the investigation, said he was not looking for anyone else in connection with the girls' deaths.

Yesterday the house where the teenagers' bodies were found, in quiet cul-de-sac The Crofters, was cordoned off and its curtains were drawn, as police began forensic enquiries.

Jasmine is believed to have lived with her mother at the property and Davina with her father, Mrs Kumari-Baker's estranged husband David, in Cambridge.

Both Davina and Jasmine had their own pages on popular networking website Bebo and friends have posted tributes describing their shock at their deaths.

Davina's page said: “She tries to fit in but she's born to stand out.” She was last online on Tuesday - the day before her body was found.

Online Davina wrote she had been arrested for stealing and fighting, while her younger sister said on her own website how she enjoyed drinking alcohol, while her last posting revealed that she was suffering from a hangover.

Both girls catalogue arguments with their mother and their desire to be together. Jasmine's page also told of her hopes of getting married and having children in the future.

Scores of messages on the Bebo website paid tribute to the teenagers. Many of the postings described the grief felt by their friends about the tragedy.

One message posted on a tribute page set up for the sisters said: “These two girls where so loved by so many ppl! They will be deeply missed by everyone!

“No1 deserves what happened to you! Everyone is thinking of you and your both in our hearts! Sisters till the end!"

Another read: "RIP angels! We Will Miss You Both! Love You Lots xx.'

Ayesha Somani wrote on Davina's Bebo page: "We had so many good times together. There is so much I still want to say to you and i wish that i cud say to you. I miss you so much...

“It is such a great loss: two beautifully stunning girls just gone.”

On Jasmine's page, a friend who calls herself JESSiiKAR wrote: "reading yur site makes me cry. knowing that yur neva going to have anything yu eva wanted. Yu were such a stunner and it's not fair tht yur life was cut short.

"Yu have & will be in everybodys thoughts.. everybody misses yu alredy and always will..'

A girl called Ruby also paid her own tribute to Jasmine, saying: "You were my sisters age. You have no idea how much people miss you allready, you can see it in their faces.

"School was quiet, everyone thought of you. You seemed so innocent, nothing to take a life from.'

Davina's page, on which she has the nickname Buzzzzzzzzing, contains comments including: "My family mean more then life its self to me...'

Under a heading of things she disliked she had included the entry: “Seeing Your Friends Or Family In Pain.'

Her page also contains links to her sister's Bebo site, accompanied by the caption: “Tha person that means tha most.'

Counselling was today being offered to pupils at the colleges where the two sisters studied.

Jasmine went to Cottenham Village College, while Davina was studying for her GCSEs at Cambridge Regional College.

Tony Cooper, headteacher of Cottenham Village College, said: "Jasmine was a conscientious, hard-working girl who was well liked by all students and staff.

"Her close friends are understandably very upset. The school and the county council are providing support and counselling services to Jasmine's friends and other students in the school who have been affected by news of this awful tragedy.'

Rick Dearing, principal at Cambridge Regional College, said: "We are obviously very shocked and saddened by the news of Davina's death.

"Davina was a bright and popular student who will be missed by her friends and classmates as well as the staff who knew her.

"Every effort is being made to provide support to all those who need it at this difficult time.'

Mrs Kumari-Baker is being questioned at Parkside Police Station, in Cambridge. Specialist family liaison officers have been supporting Mr Baker.

Det Supt Jeff Hill, who is leading the investigation, said: “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.”

Det Supt Hill later said the alarm was raised after a call from inside the house where the girls' bodies were found.

He said a phone call was made from the house to a member of the public who in turn called an off-duty police officer, who then alerted Cambridgeshire Constabulary.

Next door neighbour Abraham Narimissa, 67, said: “I saw her drive by in her car at about 4pm yesterday and she looked normal.

“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.

“I don't spend much time at this house, but when I am here I have tried to chat to the lady but she did not want to.

“What has happened makes me feel sick. This is a beautiful area and there are lots of kids. It's terrible.”

Fellow neighbour Angie Bailey, 63, said: “I have been living in this close since the houses were built in 1985 but I don't know the people who lived at the house. I heard about what happened and thought I'd misheard. I can't believe it.”

Stretham is barely five miles from Soham, where schoolfriends Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman, both 10, disappeared in August 2002. Their bodies were found two weeks later near Lakenheath.