In a case of mistaken identity related to the Sherin Mathews case, a woman who shares a similar name with the deceased girl's mother is being harassed on social media.
Sherin, a three-year-old Indian girl, was found dead in a ditch near her home in suburban Dallas on October 22 after being reported missing by her foster father Wesley Mathews. Her parents had adopted her in June 2016 from Bihar.
While Sherin's foster mother's name is Sini Mathews, many on social media are confusing her with another woman named Sini Mathew (her surname does not have an 's'), who does not have anything to do with the case.
Sini Mathew is being bombarded with friend requests and messages on social media.
WFAA spoke to Sini Mathew's husband Ash Mathew who described the the ordeal they are facing.
In fact, Sini Mathew has had to change her privacy settings and even her name on social media.
"People were requesting friendship requests for her because they think it's her. We keep deleting them, but they keep coming," Ash told the publication.
Those sending her messages have been asking questions such as "Why are you staying quiet?" and "How can that man do that?"
However, what got the couple worried most was when a photograph of their family started doing the rounds on social media groups.
Incidentally, there was also a crowdfunding page that had been started in Sherin's name.
Maria Guerrero, a reporter with NBCDFW, however confirmed that no such campaign had been approved by Sherin's family.
Beware: There is no family-approved GoFundMe account for #SherinMathews, according to family's church. https://t.co/lFt6hW2zaQ
— Maria Guerrero (@Maria_NBC5) October 25, 2017
The case
Sherin's 37-year-old father initially told police that she disappeared when he made her stand in a lane behind their house in Richardson city at 3 am on October 7 as punishment for not drinking milk.
But after the girl's body was discovered, the father admitted that the child choked while he was making her drink milk and died in their home in Texas.
Wesley Mathews was arrested and charged with felony injury to a child. He is still in Dallas County jail on a $1 million bond.
Sini Mathews, who told police that she was sleeping when the child was sent out, was not charged. The police took Mathews' biological four-year-old daughter into state custody after the incident.