North Carolina, United States

A woman in the US state of North Carolina was charged with the murder of her 10-year-old son after his decomposing body was found by the police who said that the child was starved to death. 

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What happened?

The Indian woman identified as Priyanka Tiwari, 33, was arrested after a 911 call prompted the police to respond to a call to her house in Morrisville around 5:35 pm (local time) Wednesday (Dec 20). 

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When officers arrived they were met with a gruesome scene where they found the 10-year-old boy unresponsive and began performing CPR but could not revive the child. The police later determined that a significant amount of time had passed since the child’s death due to the state of the body. 

The police said that the boy’s body was in a state of decomposition. The investigators found almost no food in the home. 

The police also said the boy had lost an enormous amount of weight in the month before his death. The warrants alleged that she had allegedly been starving the boy, but did not say for how long. 

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The police believe abuse and neglect were contributing factors in the boy’s death, while the official cause of death remains unknown. 

 Tiwari, “unlawfully, willfully, and feloniously did of malice aforethought kill and murder (her son),” said the arrest warrant, as per American media reports. “Without the autopsy, we don’t know how the child passed away,” said Morrisville Police Chief Pete Acosta, as quoted by WRAL.

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The local police chief said officers had been called to that home eight times this year, although he said one of them was a 911 misdial, reported CBS News. 

Acosta also said that most were welfare check requests for Tiwari and “Usually it was someone from India.” He added, “I’m assuming it was a family member who had not been able to reach her in several days.”

According to the police chief, officers first went to the home in March when Tiwari was experiencing a mental health crisis. 

The 33-year-old was taken into custody on Thursday (Dec 21) morning and charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of negligent child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury, reported Law&Crime citing records. 

During a brief court hearing on Thursday, a judge ordered Tiwari to be held without bail. She is scheduled for her next court appearance on January 11.

What about Tiwari’s husband?

On March 30, Acosta said her Tiwari’s husband asked police to follow him into the house so he could collect his belongings.

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“He was leaving, leaving the home, and so we followed him over there,” said the local police chief. He added, “He went and got several bags and left there was no issues.”

Priyanka’s husband also had a domestic violence protective order against her. 

(With inputs from agencies)