Posted on: Friday, September 7, 2001

Police seek mother in child's starvation death

By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau

HILO, Hawai'i — Police have issued an all-points bulletin for a former Puna woman accused of second-degree murder in the starvation death of her 10-week-old daughter in 1999.

Saraswati Mulder, 23, was indicted by a grand jury last year but failed to appear for arraignment in November and reportedly left the Big Island. Hawai'i County Police Capt. James Day said investigators received information that the woman has returned to the island.

Mulder, who formerly lived in 'Opihikao on the rural Puna coast, is accused of murder by omission for failing to properly nourish her daughter, Manjai, or to obtain medical care for her. An outstanding warrant for her arrest sets her bail at $1 million.

At the time of her death Oct. 27, 1999, Manjai weighed 6 pounds, at least 1 1/2 pounds lighter than her weight at birth.