Woman kills ailing son due to financial stress

A 25-year-old woman allegedly strangled her six-year-old son to death in their Chembur residence on Monday. The woman allegedly took her child's life since she couldn't afford his treatment for a medical condition.

"Accused Savitri Dornali, while admitting her offence, told the police that she used her dupatta to kill her son Devraj, who was sleeping, during the wee hours of Monday," said deputy commisioner of police (Zone-VI) Shahaji Umap.

Umap added, "When Savitri was being questioned, she also told the police that she is a widow and her two daughters passed away in 2008. She earned Rs4,000 a month by doing odd chores, of which she had to spend more than Rs2,000 on Devraj's medical expenses for a convulsion disorder, and hence she was not in a state to afford his treatment."

A convulsion disorder takes place when convulsions become a medical condition wherein body muscles contract and relax rapidly and repeatedly, resulting in an uncontrolled shaking of the body.

According to the police, after strangulating Devraj, Savitri slept next to him and also called up neighbours herself informing them about her son's condition, so that nobody would suspect her. On Monday, Devraj was found unconscious at his residence and was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, where the doctors pronounced him dead before admission. The body was later shifted to Rajawadi hospital for post-mortem.

"The victim was strangulated while he was sleeping and there are deep marks around the boy's neck," said a doctor.