Junkie mom strangles baby dead

It was more like a scene from a horror flick than a simple case of parricide.

Police arrested yesterday afternoon a 21 year-old woman, a suspect drug user, after she allegedly strangled to death her own three month-old son in their house in Payatas, Quezon City.

Suspect Dylene Paniwalan, a resident of barangay Golden Showersville, is now detained at the Central Police District headquarters as she awaits charges to be filed against her.

Her son Ezekiel had strangulation marks on his neck and was found dead by the suspect’s aunt, Francesa, 31, inside their home at about 11 a.m.

According to PO2 Rogelio Esteves, the incident might have taken place at about 10 a.m. inside the suspect’s house.

He said that the mother had been having bouts of depression ever since the baby’s father abandoned them.

The police said Dylene was apparently having a hard time providing for the baby’s needs and was allegedly a drug dependent.

Esteves said that Francesca was visiting the mother and child that morning. She left the two to go to the market at about 7 am. When she returned, she saw Ezekiel dead on the floor and Dylene calmly sitting beside the body.

"It was a scary scene. I never thought a mother could ever do this to her own son. And at the same time, sit beside the body and look at it as if nothing had happened," Francesca told police investigators.

Responding policemen arrived on the scene and apprehended Dylene, who has yet to talk to investigators. Esteves said that the mother could be mentally-ill and had an underlining resentment towards Ezekiel. – Matthew Estabillo