In a shocking incident, a 30-year-old madrassa teacher allegedly killed her six year-old son by slitting his throat early on Sunday at her house in Poolakkad here, to appease god through a sacrificial offering, police said.

Shahida, who is pregnant, called the 112 emergency control room in Palakkad between 3 and 4 am on Sunday and told the police that she had sacrificed her son to 'please Allah'.

When a team of policemen reached her house, she received them at the gate. She had an injury on her hand. The police found the child in the bathroom in a pool of blood, and his throat was slit and legs were tied.

She was taken into custody, they said. The incident took place at 4 am. The victim, the youngest of the woman's three sons, was sleeping with her. She woke him up and took him to the washroom and tied up his legs before killing the boy.

Shahida’s husband Sulaiman and their two other children were sleeping in another bedroom. According to the police, the trio were unaware of the incident. Shahida is a teacher at a nearby madrasa and is three months pregnant. Sulaiman, who was employed in the Gulf, is working as a taxi driver in Palakkad town.

Shahida has been booked under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) following the FIR, which says that she had murdered her child as a sacrifice to ‘Allah’.

“The FIR says what the mother told the police. We can arrive at a conclusion whether that was indeed the reason or whether there are any other reason, only after a thorough investigation," said R. Viswanath, Superintendent of Police (Palakkad).

According to police, more sections will be added during the course of investigation. The neighbours said that Shahida had taken the contact number of the Janamaithri police station from one of them on Saturday.