Mom Axes Infant Son To Death On Highway, Claims He Was A 'Goat'

A woman in India hacked her infant son to death using an ax as she believed the boy was a "goat." She was arrested Sunday.

The accused, identified as Rashmi Lodhi, left her home with her 8-month-old son Saturday morning. When she returned in the afternoon, the baby was bleeding profusely, her family members told police.

When confronted, the woman told her relatives that the baby "was a goat and I have sent him where he belongs," local daily The Times of India reported. The incident happened in the northern Indian state of Madhya Pradesh.

The family members wrapped the baby in a cloth and took him to a hospital. But the boy was declared dead at the hospital. The relatives initially claimed that the child suffered injuries after tumbling down the stairs. But the doctors noticed multiple injuries on his neck. The body was then sent for an autopsy.

A police complaint was filed the following morning. An investigation revealed that the woman placed the infant on the road and killed him using an ax. The weapon was also recovered. Neighbors told police that the baby might have been sacrificed by the woman.

Lodhi, who was believed to be mentally unstable, was taken into custody Sunday evening and admitted to a hospital for a psychological assessment. The charges levied against her were not known.

The incident comes two months after a woman in India killed her 6-year-old son for harassing his infant brother. The accused called her husband, who was at work, and informed him that their older son was not keeping well. When the man rushed back home, he found the boy lying motionless on the floor. When confronted, the accused told him that she had a severe headache and when she found the victim beating her 2-month-old son despite repeated warnings, she strangled him to death using a scarf. The woman was taken into custody and charged with murder.