Woman stabs 4-year-old daughter to death, buries body in shallow grave

An Italian woman who claimed that her four-year-old daughter was snatched from her by three masked men has now confessed to killing the child.

The 24-year-old mother, Martina Patti, a resident of Catania, in Sicily, Italy had earlier claimed that her daughter has been kidnapped. She said that an armed group of men had snatched her daughter, Elena Del Pozzo, from her while they were leaving nursery school on June 13.

But police were suspicious of her behaviour since the CCTV footage from school did not show any unusual activity on the day of the alleged kidnapping. Police did not think the girl was kidnapped since the family was not wealthy enough to be targeted for extortion.

The police then went to search her house in Catania. It was during the search that she succumbed to pressure and confessed to stabbing her daughter with a kitchen knife.

She then took the police officers to a nearby field where she wrapped the girl's body in bin bags and buried her in a shallow grave. She has been arrested over charges of murder and concealing a corpse.

The girl had been stabbed multiple times in the neck, upper back and behind the ear, according to local police officers. Her body has been sent for an autopsy. The woman has not given any motive for committing the heinous crime and has only said that "she wasn't herself."

"I don't remember what went through my mind when I stabbed by daughter," she reportedly said during interrogation. The investigators believe that she many have been jealous of her daughter's bond with his former partner's new girlfriend.

"One of the possible reasons that led Martina Patti to carry out the act may be jealousy, not only of her ex-partner's new partner but also of her daughter's possible affection towards the woman," said Catania Carabinieri chief Piercarmine Sica.

The girl's father had also been arrested for robbery in 2020, but was released later. He also has prior convictions for drug dealing. The couple did not share a healthy relationship, per a report in The Guardian.