New Delhi: A 48-year-old Indian-origin woman has been charged with murdering her 11-year-old son after a three-day Disneyland trip.
According to the reports, Saritha Ramaraju allegedly slit her pre-teen son’s throat and killed him after their trip to Disneyland. She then attempted to take her own life by consuming pills. She has been charged with murder and an additional count for using a knife. If convicted, she faces up to 26 years to life in prison, according to the Orange County District Attorney’s Office.
Saritha, who moved out of California after divorcing the boy’s father in 2018, was staying with her son at a Santa Ana motel for a custody visit. She had bought three-day Disneyland passes for them. On March 19, the day she was supposed to return the child to his father, she called 911 at 9:12 am, confessing that she had killed her son and attempted suicide by taking pills.
Mint confirmed that when police arrived, they found the boy dead on the bed, surrounded by Disneyland souvenirs, and believed he had been dead for hours. A large kitchen knife, purchased the day before, was also found in the room.
According to the Mint report, Saritha was released from the hospital on Thursday after consuming an unknown substance and was arrested for allegedly stabbing her son to death.
“The life of a child should not hang in the balance between two parents whose anger for each other outweighs their love for their child,” Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said to the Mint.
“Anger makes you forget who you love and what you are responsible for doing. The safest place for a child should be in their parents’ arms. Instead of wrapping her arms around their son in love, she slit his throat and in the cruelest twist of fate removed him from the very world she brought him into,” the official added.
Reports from NBC, cited by PTI, revealed that Ramaraju had been in a custody battle with Prakash Raju since last year. She had accused him of making medical and school-related decisions without her input and alleged that he struggled with substance abuse.
Authorities continue to investigate the case as legal proceedings move forward.
