Her eldest children tried to stop her, but she still jumped into the ice-cold water with the two youngest: Dutch mother gets five years in prison for murder and attempted murder | Abroad

Camera images played an important role during the handling of the tragic case. After all, images from a surveillance camera clearly showed how mother Saba M. arrived with her four children that fateful day at a quay behind a row of storage sheds, on an industrial estate on the outskirts of Kampen. She then sat on the ground in the rain for several minutes, with the youngest two on her body. Her 1.5 year old baby was hanging on her chest in a baby carrier. Her 3-year-old child was strapped to her stomach with a scarf.

The role of the two eldest children in the drama is striking. They clearly knew it was not right and desperately tried to stop their mother. The two eldest children stood in front of the woman and twice blocked her way to the water like a kind of living wall, the court ruled. But at some point the mother quickened her pace and tore herself away from her eldest daughter’s hands. She jumped 2.5 meters into the ice-cold water of the IJssel with her two youngest children on her stomach.

The fact that the 3-year-old daughter and the suspect survived the jump was due to the heroic intervention of bystanders. They had responded to the panic and heartbreaking cries for help from the two oldest children. But the 1.5-year-old baby did not survive. A long resuscitation attempt to save the child was no longer successful.

In addition to the murder of her youngest child, the woman was also convicted on Thursday of the attempted murder of her 3-year-old daughter. According to the judges, there was no question of an accident, as M. himself stated. She jumped into the water at a spot where she knew she could no longer get out on her own, the court said. And the judge also saw that clear acceleration directed towards the water. The verdict: five years in prison and so-called detention (tbs) with compulsory treatment.

The prison sentence is “lower than for an average murder,” the judge said. This is due to the fact that a psychiatrist diagnosed the woman with a clear and serious psychiatric disorder. Another factor is that the woman now has to continue as a mother without her youngest daughter. In addition, her other children have been removed from her home.

The judges clearly saw from the images that her two eldest children had done everything they could to prevent mother Saba’s jump. It is not clear from the images that she had only come there to feed the ducks and birds with the four children. “They pay no attention to ducks, fish or birds,” said the judge. The oldest children had their eyes on their mother the whole time, with their backs to the water.

Anyone with questions about suicide can call the free number 1813 or surf to www.zelfbloed1813.be. Do you need a conversation? Then you can contact Tele-Onthaal on number 106 or via chat at www.tele-onthaal.be. Young people can contact Awel on telephone number 102, or via awel.be.