Indian-Origin Woman Charged with Killing Son After Disneyland Trip

 Hyderabad: A 48-year-old Indian-origin woman allegedly killed her 11-year-old son in a California hotel. After getting custodial visitation of her son, she took him on a three-day tour of Disneyland and killed him.

Saritha Ramaraju, the mother, contacted emergency services on March 19 and confessed to killing her son and attempting to die by suicide. Authorities arrived at the La Quinta Inn & Suites, and found the boy lying dead on the bed amid toys and souvenirs.

Sgt Natalie Garcia of the Santa Ana police department said that the boy was stabbed. Saritha was taken to a hospital for treatment.

Guests living in the inn said that they heard screams and loud noises coming from a nearby room, but the noises stopped after a while.

“We still don’t know the mother’s reason to kill her son in such a brutal way, but we will interview her and understand what led to such brutality,” Sgt Garcia said

California’s Orange County’s district attorney Todd Spitzer said Saritha was arrested the next day and was charged with murder and personal use of a deadly weapon, held without bail. She could face a sentence between 26 years to life imprisonment if she is convicted.

Authorities believe that the backdrop to this situation involves a long custody dispute between Saritha and her Bengaluru-based former husband, Prakash Raju. After their divorce in 2018, Raju had the primary custody of their son.

Saritha moved to Virginia and was in a legal battle with Raju for the son’s custody since a year. Court records stated that Saritha previously accused her ex-husband of making unilateral decisions regarding their son's medical and educational matters, and also alleged Raju had substance abuse issues.

She requested custody of the boy, but after mediation it was agreed that she would have him for winter break, while the father retained primary custody.

As a part of the custodial visitation she booked three-day passes to Disneyland for herself and her son. The 11-year-old was scheduled to return to Raju on the day he was murdered.

Expressing sorrow over the incident, the district attorney 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."