It was between 3 am and 4 am on Sunday that the 112 emergency control room in Palakkad received a chilling call. On the call was 30-year-old Shahida, from Pulakkad in Palakkad district, who told the police person that she had murdered her 6-year-old son Aamil, as a sacrifice to Allah. When a team of policemen headed by Assistant sub inspector George Harris reached the house, Shahida was waiting for them at the gate.
Seeing the blood on her, the police rushed inside the house and found the 6-year-old dead in the bathroom, with his throat slit. According to reports, Shahida’s husband Sulaiman and two other children were sleeping in the bedroom, and are believed to have been unaware of the murder.