A Brazilian woman has charged in the brutal death of her five-year-old daughter. She is also alleged to have gouged out the child's eyes and eaten her tongue.
According to a statement released by police, Josimare Gomes da Silva, 30, was arrested on January 24 in the village of Sao Cristovao in the Brazilian state of Alagaos. The body of Brenda Carollyne Pereira da Silva was discovered by her grandfather shortly after the mother locked herself in the bathroom with her daughter. According to a report in the New York Post, the grandfather broke into the bathroom after noticing a pool of blood flowing from an outside drain. Josimare was reportedly found "praying in a daze" beside her daughter's body and parts of the child's organs were sitting next to her. She was then sedated and taken to a nearby police station.
While the child's death is still being investigated, initial reports state that the mother attacked Belinda with a pair of scissors while she was still alive. There was also significant discoloration on the girl's neck consistent with strangulation as well as evidence that the child's eyes and tongue had been gouged out. In a largely incoherent statement made in several languages, Josimare denied eating some of the child's body parts, including her tongue, but told police that she believed a demon was possessing her daughter and that it was the demon that died rather than Belinda.
Although Josimare has a history of mental health issues, including depression, it is currently believed that she killed her daughter during a severe psychotic episode. Kleytione Pereira, district attorney for Maravilha, told local news outlets that he is calling for the woman's hospitalization rather than placing her in prison. “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 Prosecutor's Office stated.
Josimare is currently set to be transferred tothe Santa Luzia women’s prison in the city of Brazilian Maceio pending the outcome of the investigation.
Comments