A 28-year-old mother who smothered her baby to death with a copy of the Koran told police she was trying to save him from being possessed by the devil, a court has heard.
The five-month-old boy, who weighed just nine kilograms, was found with 39 wounds on his body at his home in Halmstad, Sweden, in July this year.
Most of his injuries were caused by being crushed and battered by the Muslim holy book, prosecutors said.
The 28-year-old mother, who admits the charges, claimed she had suffered weeks of hallucinations and visions where devil’s horns were growing from her son’s head.
‘I saw horns growing out of the baby’s forehead and long vines on his body. I saw an old man’s head on his body. I wanted to save my baby, not kill him,’ she told the court.
Defence lawyer Goran Ruthberg added: ‘My client was in a psychotic state. She had no intention to kill and considering how she was feeling, she had no way of predicting what might happen.’
The woman’s husband, who cried as he listened to the prosecution’s description of the horrific attack, has forgiven her, according to Expressen.se.
‘She was a good mother and a good wife. It is a horrible thing, but it was an accident,’ he said.
The couple, who are Muslims, reportedly met on the internet and married after a week.
The father said his wife was overjoyed at the birth of their child but her mental health soon deteriorated.
A medical examination found that the mother killed her child under the influence of a serious mental disorder.
She cannot be sentenced to prison if she is convicted of murder, according to the newspaper. The case continues.
