A mum has been arrested over the murder of her two-year-old son who she allegedly stabbed and left on top of a checkout counter in a supermarket.
Katalin Erzsebet Bradacs, 44, was arrested and taken into preventive custody after being charged with murdering her own toddler son, Alex Juhasz.
The former nightclub dancer entered a Lidl supermarket in the small town of Citta della Pieve in the central Italian region of Umbria on Friday.
Bradacs, from Hungary, is said to have shouted for help as she placed her son’s bloodied body on top of a checkout counter.
Alex was pronounced dead at the scene after being found with nine stab wounds on his chest and neck.
Bradacs was also treated at the scene but was subsequently arrested by the police after they found a knife in her handbag.
A number of items including the youngster’s bloodied t-shirt and the woman’s jumper were found later that night at a nearby disused building.
The area has been sealed off by police as part of their investigation.
Police have said CCTV footage did not reveal any other suspects apart from the child’s mother.
Detectives believe Bradacs wanted revenge against the Alex’s father, Norbert Juhasz, who had been granted custody by a Hungarian court last month.
Bradacs is said to have fled to Italy with the boy following the ruling, and witnesses claim they saw her mistreating the boy the day before his death.
It is alleged Mr Juhasz alerted Hungarian authorities to the stabbing after Bradacs sent him a picture of their dying son via WhatsApp before taking Alex to the supermarket.
Bradacs is currently being held by police for questioning, where she has denied accusations against her, reportedly telling officers repeatedly: “I did not kill my son.”
She also reportedly proffered three contradictory versions of events before choosing to remain silent on the advice of her lawyer, Enrico Renzoni.
Bradacts had been living in the Tuscan town of Chiusi Scalo at the home of a man who had managed the now-closed nightclub she had worked at and with whom she had remained in contact.
She also has an 18-year-old son who lives in Hungary and whose father is deceased.
The investigation is ongoing.