A mother allegedly hacked her five-year-old son to death with a machete at their home in Egypt and then boiled his head and ate parts of it, in one of the most horrific and spine-chilling incidents. Hanaa, the mother, was arrested after police discovered her son's body parts in buckets in her house in the city of Faqus in the governorate of Ash Sharqiyah.
According to security sources who spoke to multiple Egyptian publications, the mother and her child were living alone after the woman divorced her husband three years ago. She has been dealing with mental health issues for a while.
Spine-Chilling Incident
Hanaa, 29, was arrested by police after her son Youssef's horrified uncle found the young boy's body parts in buckets at the family home in the village of Abu Shalabi. According to local media, the mother admitted to eating a portion of her son's head because she "wanted [him] to stay with her together."
Hanaa is accused of hitting her unsuspecting son at least four times in the head before dismembering his body in the restroom.
She then allegedly cooked his head and other pieces of flesh on the stovetop until they were fully cooked before eating them.
Following her arrest, Hanaa, who has been separated from her husband for several years, reportedly told the police that she did not intend to kill her son, Youssef, and that she "suffers from a mental illness" that drove her to kill him.
However, her husband refuted her claims and said that Hanaa was fully aware of what she was doing.
The ex-husband, identified only by his initials H.A., told local media: "When I arrived, the police prevented me from seeing my son because of the horrific scene."
Unlike a Mother
The devastated husband also said that Hanaa had planned and murdered their son. "We separated from each other four years ago because she had land from her father and asked me to leave the house and my family and go with her to live on the land.
"But I refused, and the relationship ended entirely by her will, and I tried to reconcile with her after the divorce, but she refused and stuck to her opinion."
H.A. added: "My son was the one who kept me connected to her, and I used to see him regularly and bring him clothes and things he needed.
"But recently, she was trying to keep him away from me and plant hatred toward me in his heart, so he wouldn't come to me. I was trying to communicate with her family to see my son and make sure he was okay."
According to H.A.'s lawyer Samir Mohamed Saleh, Hanaa was reportedly stone-faced when she said to her interrogators: "I wanted to free him and myself."
"I wanted to take revenge against his father and be free. His father keeps coming and trying to take him away all the time."
The suspect has been detained, according to a statement from the Public Prosecution Office, and will get a mental health evaluation.
In broadcast remarks, Egyptian journalist Mostafa Bakry called this "one of the most heinous human crimes," the Egyptian Independent reported.
"Such people should be placed in psychiatric or therapeutic facilities, and that this woman is not normal, and these crimes do not reflect the behavior of the Egyptian people."
