A Brazilian mother has been accused in the death of her 5-year-old daughter, in which she gouged the girl’s eyes out during a psychotic episode, according to Alagoas Civil Police.
The New York post reported that Josimare Gomes da Silva, 30, was arrested on January 24 in the village of Sao Cristovao in Maravilha, Brazil, in connection to the death of her daughter, Brenda Carollyne Pereira da Silva.
The girl’s body was discovered by her grandfather after Josimare da Silva locked herself in the bathroom with the child, the outlet said. According to the New York Post, the grandfather told police he broke into the bathroom after he noticed a pool of blood running from an outside drain.
The mother was found in the room “praying in a daze” next to her daughter’s “lifeless body,” the outlet said. The New York Daily News added that parts of the girl’s organs were found lying next to her, citing Brazilian news outlet Piauí Hoje.
The 30-year-old, who local media said suffers from mental health issues including depression, was then sedated and taken to the police station in Delmiro Gouveia, Alagoas, The Sun said.
Da Silva is set to be transferred to the Santa Luzia women’s prison in the city of Maceio while the cause and details of the child’s death are investigated, police said.
Here’s what you need to know:
Josimare Da Silva Has Been Accused of Gouging Her Daughter’s Eyes out & Eating Her Tongue
According to The Sun, da Silva has been accused of gouging her daughter’s eyes out, as well as cutting her tongue out and eating it. Police believe she attacked the girl with a pair of scissors while her daughter was alive, the outlet continued.
The Daily Star reported that the “man told police her neck was also purple as if it had been crushed.” He then called police who came to the house and sedated the woman before arresting her, the Daily Star said.
“The mum allegedly gave a statement to the police the following morning in a number of languages, including Spanish,” The Sun reported.
The outlet said that da Silva denied the accusations. Police said they are awaiting the medical examiner’s report determining the cause of death. The investigation is being led by Maravilha district delegate Diego Nunes, according to the police press release.
The Mother Told Investigators She Believed Her Child Was Possessed by a Demon
Da Silva later told police that she believed she killed a demon possessing her 5-year-old daughter, The New York Daily News reported, citing local news outlet Folha de Alagoas.
Although the investigation is in its early stages, according to Brazilian authorities, police believe that the woman was suffering from a “severe psychotic episode when she attacked her own child,” the New York Daily News said.
Kleytione Pereira, the district attorney for Maravilha, has called for da Silva to be hospitalized rather than jailed, the Daily Star reported.
“Due to the circumstances in which they appeared in the fact, with strong indications that the victim’s mother has psychological and psychiatric problems, and that perhaps at the time of the crime she was even in an outbreak,” the Public Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement obtained by the outlet.
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