Mother kills young son in north Nicosia

A woman in north Nicosia is in police custody and on suicide watch, after stabbing her young son to death, with Turkish Cypriot media saying she got upset over an imminent custody battle.

(Click here for an update to the story)

The 36-year-old mother, who stabbed her 7-year-old son on Sunday in their apartment in the suburb of Kionel, appeared before a Turkish Cypriot court on Tuesday where she was remanded for three days. 

Turkish Cypriot media say the woman had been separated from her husband and she stabbed her little boy upon learning that her husband would seek full child custody.

Reports also say that the 36-year-old lied down next to her dead son on the bed and later, when she began to fully realise what she had done, she reportedly attempted to commit suicide. 

The boy’s grandfather reportedly died of a heart attack when he saw what had happened.

A knife believed to be the murder weapon has been found in the residence according to local reports.