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According to a statement from the office of the district attorney, in Orange County, California, said that Ramaraju faces a maximum sentence of 26 years to life if convicted on all charges.
Saritha Ramaraju, 48, has been charged with one felony count of murder for slitting her son’s throat. (Photo/X: @SantaAnaPD)
A 48-year-old woman of Indian origin has been charged with allegedly killing her 11-year-old son by slitting his throat, following a family trip to Disneyland.
The suspect, identified as Saritha Ramaraju has been charged with one count of felony murder and a felony enhancement for using a deadly weapon, specifically a knife, according to a report by the news agency PTI.
According to a statement from the office of the district attorney, in Orange County, California, said that Ramaraju faces a maximum sentence of 26 years to life if convicted on all charges.
In 2018, Saritha divorced her husband and moved out of California. She was in Santa Ana with her son for a custody visit, when the unfortunate incident took place.
As part of their trip to Santa Ana, Saritha bought three-day Disneyland passes for herself and her son. After this, Saritha was scheduled to check out of the motel on March 19 and return her son to the father.
However, on March 19, Saritha called 911 at approximately 9:12 am local time, reporting that she had killed her son and had consumed some pills to take her own life as well.
Upon receiving the information, the Santa Ana police arrived at the spot and found the 11-year-old boy’s dead body on the bed in a room filled with Disney souvenirs. According to the DA’s statement, it had appeared that the boy had been dead for several hours before Saritha called the cops.
Authorities found the murder weapon, a large kitchen knife, in the motel room. Investigation revealed that Saritha had purchased the knife the day before the incident. Since she had consumed some unknown substance after killing her son, she was admitted to the hospital.
Saritha was released from the hospital on Thursday and arrested on suspicion of her involvement in the boy’s death.
Orange County DA 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,” he added.
Saritha had been engaged in a custody battle with her husband, Prakash Raju, since last year. The fight came as a result of Ramaraju’s allegations that he was making medical and school decisions by himself, without consulting her input. Additionally, she had accused him of struggling with substance abuse.
As per the courts’ records, after the couple got divorced in 2018, Raju was granted custody of his son while Saritha was given visitation rights. Saritha was living in Virginia’s Fairfax and wanted her 11-year-old child to live with her. She had accused Raju of a “history of substance abuse issues”, adding that he “gets very aggressive under the influence of alcohol, drugs and smoke”
She also accused Raju of having “severe control issues”, saying that their son is “very scared to talk to mother as he will get into trouble with dad”.
Meanwhile, Raju accused his former wife of “citing completely false and untrue abuse and substance abuse issues”.
Suicide Prevention. News 18. If you or someone you know needs help, call any of these helplines: Aasra (Mumbai) 022-27546669, Sneha (Chennai) 044-24640050, Sumaitri (Delhi) 011-23389090, Cooj (Goa) 0832- 2252525, Jeevan (Jamshedpur) 065-76453841, Pratheeksha (Kochi) 048-42448830, Maithri (Kochi) 0484-2540530, Roshni (Hyderabad) 040-66202000, Lifeline 033-64643267 (Kolkata)
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