Indian-origin woman slits 11-year-old son’s throat after Disneyland trip, then takes pills to kill herself

A 48-year-old Indian-origin woman has been charged for allegedly slitting her 11-year-old son’s throat and killing after going on a three-day vacation to Disneyland.

The suspect, identified as Saritha Ramaraju, has been charged with one felony count of murder and one felony enhancement of personal use of a weapon, a knife, a news agency PTI report said.

A statement from the office of the district attorney, Orange County, California, said that the Ramaraju faces a maximum sentence of 26 years to life if convicted on all charges.

Ramaraju had divorced her husband and moved out of California in 2018. She was in Santa Ana with her son for a custody visit, when the unfortunate incident took place.

During their visit to Santa Ana, she purchased three-day passes to Disneyland for herself and her son. After this, Ramaraju was scheduled to check out of the motel on March 19 and return her son to the father.

Instead, she dialled 911 that day at around 9:12 am (local time) and reported that she had killed her son and had consumed some pills to take her own life as well.

Soon after, 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 Ramaraju called the cops.

The murder weapon, a large kitchen knife, was also found inside the very motel room. The accused had bought the knife the previous day. Since she had consumed some unknown substance after killing her son, she was admitted to the hospital.

On Thursday, Ramaraju was released from the hospital 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.

Custody battle for son

Notably, Ramaraju had been engaged in a custody battle for her son 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 inputs. She also alleged that her ex-husband had issues with substance abuse.

Following the couple’s divorce in 2018, Raju was granted the custody of his son while Saritha was given visitation rights, court records said.

Ramaraju was living in Virginia’s Fairfax and wanted her 11-year-old child to live with her. She had accused Ramaraju of a “history of substance abuse issues”, adding that he “gets very aggressive under the influence of alcohol, drugs and smoke”.

She accused Prakash 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”.

Raju, on the other hand, accused his former wife of “citing completely false and untrue abuse and substance abuse issues”.