The news that an Egyptian mother beheaded her five-year-old son and then cooked and ate his head is causing horror.

Defendant Hanaa Mohamed Hassan, 29, was on trial for the gruesome murder of her son Youssef, but judges at the Zagazig Criminal Court ruled that she was not competent to defend herself.

However, in a verdict on September 30, they said she killed her son in the heat of the moment and should be kept in a psychiatric unit.

The 5-year-old’s uncle found his limbs in a bucket

The 29-year-old, according to the Daily Mail, was arrested after the five-year-old’s uncle found parts of his body in a bucket inside the family’s home in Fakus, northern Egypt.

After her arrest, police said she confessed to eating part of her son’s head because she “wanted him to be with her forever.”

She had dismembered his body in the bathroom, and then cooked pieces of his body.

Before the ruling, prosecutors had argued that Hassan had killed her son because she feared she might lose custody of the boy to her ex-husband. An initial psychiatric report had also found that she was responsible for her premeditated actions, having obtained a bat and a knife and locking all the doors and windows of her home.

She had then struck her son’s head three times, killing him, and then cut Yusef’s body into pieces in an attempt to destroy the evidence.

He had delusions

But the court ordered a more detailed evaluation of her mental state, and a team of court-appointed psychiatric experts found that Hasan had delusions that her relatives were casting spells on her son. The report said Hassan was unable to comprehend the gravity of her actions. She saw her preemptive act as a…simple mistake.

Hassan was ordered to be held at the Abbasia Mental and Neurological Health Hospital in Cairo.

After her arrest, she claimed to police in Faqous that she “suffers from a mental illness” and did not intend to kill her son.

The 29-year-old and Youssef were left alone after her split from her husband, who insists he knew exactly what his ex-wife was doing. “When I arrived, the police stopped me from seeing my son because of the horrific scene,” the father said. .

The Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement that the suspect was taken into custody and that she will undergo a psychiatric evaluation.