Dubai: A three-year-old girl was snatched from her mother and murdered by a “mentally ill” man, as described by the local media, in the Tunisian city of Kairouan.
Maryam and her three siblings, accompanied by their mother, were on their way for a routine medical check-up at a nearby hospital, Al Arabiya reported.
As soon as the family left the cab, the attacker snatched the young girl, who was holding her elder brother’s hand, and immediately slashed her in front of her mother and siblings.
The mother tried to reach out and save her daughter, but the man also attacked her.
The girl died instantly.
The man, who is known to local authorities as a mentally ill person, had previously attacked a child with a knife and was later released on grounds of his mental state.
Angry Tunisians gathered in front of the local authority’s headquarters to protest, denouncing the crime and questioning why a man with a criminal record was left free to wander the streets and not in a special facility to be treated.
— Hams Saleh is an intern at Gulf News
