An Indian-origin woman in the US has been charged with allegedly murdering her 11-year-old son after a three-day vacation to Disneyland.
Saritha Ramaraju (48) has been charged with one felony count of murder for slitting her son’s throat during a custody visit, reported NBC Los Angeles. One felony enhancement of personal use of a weapon, a knife has also been charged against her.
If convicted on all charges, the woman would face a maximum sentence of 26 years to life, a statement from the Office of the District Attorney, Orange County, California said Friday.
Ramaraju had divorced her husband, the boy’s father in 2018 and had moved out of California. She was staying with her son at a motel in Santa Ana for a custody visit during which she bought three-day passes to Disneyland for herself and her son.
‘I Killed My Son’
On March 19, Ramaraju was scheduled to check out from the motel and return the boy to his father. At 9:12 am, she called 911 and reported that she killed her son and taken pills to kill herself.
When Santa Ana police arrived at the spot, they found the boy dead on the bed in a room among Disneyland souvenirs. The boy appeared to have been dead for several hours before his mother called 911, the statement said. The boy was scheduled to be returned to his father that day.
The police also found a large kitchen knife inside the motel room which was purchased the day before. The boy’s mother was arrested on Thursday after being released from the hospital as she ingested the unknown substance.
‘Anger Makes You Forget…’
Speaking on the incident, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said, “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.”
“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 attorney added.
Custody Battle
According to the report, Ramaraju has been in a custody battle with her husband Prakash Raju since last year as she accused him of making medical and school decisions without her input and alleged he had substance abuse issues.
As per the court papers, Prakash Raju said he was born and raised in Bengaluru. The couple divorced in January 2018 and Raju was granted the son’s custody and Saritha Ramaraju received visitation rights, according to court records.
Ramaraju was living in Fairfax, Virginia, and wanted her son to live with her, the report stated quoting court papers.
