Mom Kills 6-Year-Old Son By Slitting Throat As 'Sacrifice' To God

A woman killed her 6-year-old son by slitting his throat Sunday, allegedly as a sacrifice to God.

Police in Palakkad, a district in the southern Indian state of Kerala, arrived at 30-year-old Shahida’s home around 3 a.m. and found her waiting for them at the main gate. The officers noticed blood on her and rushed inside to find the victim lying motionless in a pool of blood in the bathroom, with his throat slit. The boy, identified as Aamil, was pronounced dead at the scene.

The woman was detained for questioning and during the interrogation, she confessed to the murder. She said that she killed her son as a "sacrifice to Allah" to please him. She was immediately placed under arrest and booked for murder.

"What is mentioned in the FIR is what the mother told the police control room. Only after a thorough investigation can we conclude whether that was indeed the reason or whether there are other reasons," a police officer told a local news outlet The News Minute.

Police said the woman, who is three months pregnant, had an injury on her hand when the officers arrived at the home. The woman’s husband and her two other children were fast asleep in the bedroom when the cops arrived and were believed to be unaware of the crime.

The accused, who is a teacher, will undergo a psychology evaluation later this week.

Meanwhile, her neighbor told local media that the accused had taken the police station’s contact number from them Saturday. Another neighbor said the family was not superstitious.

"As per what we know, the family did not have any issues," another neighbor said.

Police said the accused could face additional charges once the investigation is over. The boy’s body has been sent for an autopsy.

The incident comes months after a man allegedly sacrificed his 6-year-old daughter as part of a sorcery ritual in the eastern Indian state of Odisha. Banguru Pangi filed a complaint stating that his daughter was missing for three days. After the police found his statement suspicious, he confessed to killing his daughter and burying her body near a temple. The locals told the investigators that the man had sacrificed the victim as part of a sorcery ritual to become rich.