New Delhi: In a horrific murder, a mentally-disturbed woman reportedly killed her eight-month-old son in outer Delhi's Aman Vihar area in the wee hours of Friday, with police claiming that the woman also attacked herself with some blunt object.
She was admitted to hospital for treatment and a case has been registered in this regard.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Outer) Mahendra Nath Tiwari told Millennium Post that the woman had both decapitated her child as well as crushed the infant's head to pieces. The sequence of events that led to the baby's murder is yet to be determined.
Claiming it to be a brutal murder, a senior officer from Outer Delhi police said that the woman had used a knife and other heavy objects to kill the child and his face was repeatedly bludgeoned with a heavy brick-like object.
The infant and his parents are residents of Prem Nagar area of Aman Vihar.
"The incident came to light on 2.15 am on April 20. We reached the spot and found the woman and the child lying in a pool of blood. At the time of the incident, the mother was alone with the infant," said Tiwari.
As soon as he came to know of the macabre incident, the woman's husband informed one of their neighbours and told them to call the police.
"The woman slit her son's throat, smashed his face and also attacked the body. She was found sleeping next to the body when her husband came back home," a senior police officer told this paper.
He further said that the husband works as a weekly market vendor.
The couple also have two daughters, aged seven and two, both of whom had gone to their grandfather's house at the time of the incident.
When asked whether the woman was in touch with some godman or whether there was any 'black magic' angle to the murder, a senior police officer refuted the claims.
Unconfirmed reports also claimed that the woman had earlier killed another child.
"We have heard about it and are investigating the facts," police said, adding that a case under section 302 of the Indian Penal Code has been registered at Aman Vihar police station.
Husband, family yet to come out of shock
New Delhi: "She used to remain quiet and was always thinking something. We never sensed that we would witness such a horrific scene," said a family member of the woman in Aman Vihar, who allegedly killing her eight-month-old son in the most brutal of ways.
Describing the scene when he reached home, the woman's husband told Millennium Post that his wife seemed normal on Thursday, doing her regular chores and preparing food for the family. After 3 pm, he left the house for work.
"There were no arguments between the, (husband and wife). Everything was normal, but the killing of the child has shocked us," said a relative of the husband.
It was around 1.30 am when the husband knocked at the door of his house and got no response. Realising that something was wrong, he broke open the door, only to find blood everywhere in the room and the head of his son was severed.
"I ran out of the room shouting, which alerted the neighbour, who reached the spot," said the husband, who did not return to the house because he was too scared.
He further said that his wife was mentally unstable and had been receiving treatment for six years, because of which he had kept their two daughters away from her.
"For eight months, the children were staying with the mother and she never attacked the baby," said the husband.
In the last two-three days, she had become very quiet and pensive. When the husband asked whether there was any problem, she never answered and remained quiet.
"I never thought such an incident will happen," said the husband, who is yet to recover from the state of shock.
He further said that on May 11, his wife's brother is set to get married.
In February this year, a person who smothered a seven-year-old boy to death was arrested from north west Delhi's Nathupura area.
Law enforcement officials claimed that the accused had kept the child's body in his rented accommodation, packed inside a suitcase, for more than a month.
In January, a 31-year-old man was arrested for killing his wife and son in Jahangirpuri area. Police claimed that the accused, after killing the victims, had slept beside the bodies.