Woman Had Lunch With Neighbors After Slitting Toddler Daughter's Throat

A woman with alleged mental illness reportedly had lunch at her neighbor’s home after murdering her three-year-old daughter.

The mother, identified as Manowara Bibi, is accused of killing her toddler daughter, Arefa Khatun, by slitting her throat at their home in the Malda district of West Bengal, India.

After the killing, the suspect went to her neighbor’s home and had lunch with them, local media reported. That’s when she allegedly told the neighbor’s that she had killed her daughter.

The neighbor’s rushed to the woman’s home and found the child lying in a pool of blood. Police officers were dispatched to the crime scene after the neighbors alerted them about the deadly incident.

The emergency responders pronounced the toddler dead at the scene. An ambulance transported the child’s body to the Malda Medical College and Hospital for an autopsy.

The police have initiated an investigation and have detained the mother for questioning.

According to a report by The Indian Express, the woman’s husband, Shaheb Ali, who works as a daily wage laborer, has two children — a son and a daughter from his first marriage to Begam Bibi.

He married Manowara after Begam died of unspecified reasons a few years ago. Manowara, a resident of Kumedpur gave birth to a baby girl three years later.

On Wednesday morning, Ali left for work as usual leaving the toddler with her mother.

According to local sources, there was no one else in the house when Manowara took her daughter into the bedroom and slit her throat with a sharp object.

The exact motive behind the slaying is unclear at this time.

Ali told the investigators that there were no domestic disputes between him and his wife. He claimed that his wife has a mental condition and had been under medication.

"She had once jumped into a pond with her daughter. Luckily, some villagers saw it and pulled them out of the water. She is not mentally sound and has been on medication for a while," Ali claimed.

This is an ongoing investigation and no further details were available at the time of this writing.