Cannibalism claims rock Australia as mother is charged in death of 4-year-old son

A woman is being investigated for cannibalism after her four-year-old son was found dead with significant injuries to his arm. The horrific incident occurred in New South Wales, Australia. The 32-year-old woman walked into the Wyong Police Station on Saturday at around 4:30 pm and allegedly made references to cannibalism, local media reports suggest. Concerned about the child, officers rushed to her house in Byron St where they found the boy's body. A post-mortem will be carried out to determine the exact cause of his death. Police are working to know for how long had the boy been deceased.

Superintendent Chad Gilles from Tuggerah Lakes Police said in a press conference, "It's been confirmed the child had injuries. I am not going to speculate further on what those injuries are. I’m prepared to say publicly at the moment, it was an extremely confronting scene." He confirmed that the woman and the child were the only people living on the property and shared a "domestic relationship". The woman was charged with murder and did not appear at her bail hearing. The next hearing of the gruesome case has been set for September 1.

“My priority at the moment now is to work through the investigation with detectives to understand exactly what happened and why it happened," officer Gilles said. He added, that when the victim is a child, "it strikes at the core of community. That’s why it’s absolutely important we work through this methodically, we try to understand what’s happened, why it happened."

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the police are actively investigating whether cannibalism played a part in the incident. Meanwhile, the neighbours were shocked to hear the news of the child's demise. One of them told the outlet, "He was happy. We couldn’t see any signs of anything." According to others, the mother and child had moved into the house a year ago. The woman was reportedly a victim of domestic abuse.