Abusive Parents Allegedly Prayed Over Dying Infant's Body For Recovery; Charged With Murder

A couple in Australia has been arrested on charges of torturing and murdering their 7-month-old son at their home. The suspects, who are deeply religious, allegedly prayed over the infant's body for recovery and called the ambulance only after he died, reports said.

Reinhardt Bosch, 33, and Noemi Kondacs, 22, from Yugar, a village in the Australian state of Queensland, were taken into custody Thursday after the deputies were called to a "confronting" scene at the couple's residence, 7 News.com.au reported.

The cops also noticed visible injuries on the body of the deceased. Officials said the injuries on the child were enough to charge the parents with murder.

The couple was charged with one count each of murder and torture while the cops investigate the circumstances that led to the infant's death.

"Any homicide is tragic. When it relates to a young person - or an infant in this instance - it's quite confronting and tragic," an investigator, David Jackman said, as reported by Kidspot.com.au. "I've been a detective for 30-odd years and it's one of the most confronting scenes that I've seen," he added.

Police believe Bosch inflicted the injuries on the baby and the circumstances that led to the death occurred in the 24 hours before the cops were called.

According to the preliminary investigation, the child did not have any underlying health issues. "From what I have seen the child wasn't neglected in terms of nourishment and such, but it's quite confronting," Jackman said.

Meanwhile, the police will also be investigating the suspects' religious beliefs as part of the murder probe.

In an unrelated incident reported in April, a 14-year-old girl with a severe disability died after months of extreme neglect while living in deplorable conditions at a home in South Carolina. The investigators arrested the teen's parents, David Baynard, 53, and Bobbie Jo Baynard, 42, along with her brother, 20-year-old Edward Vincent Baynard on charges of murder and abuse of the victim who reportedly suffered from cerebral palsy. The girl's autopsy revealed that she had been severely neglected "for many, many months."