The incident took place on Saturday afternoon on a TGV journey from Lille to Nîmes. The 42-year-old woman reportedly became angry with her son after he spilled a drink. According to several witnesses, she then grabbed the child’s head and slammed it against the table at the back of the chairs. She then allegedly pulled the child by his hair and strangled him.
Several passengers reportedly reported the incident via an emergency number of the French railways. The railway police then arrived at the Marne-la-Vallée-Chessy station, near Paris, where the woman was arrested for “intentional violence by a parent against a minor under fifteen years of age.” The boy was temporarily placed with a foster family by youth care.
The woman was still being questioned on Sunday. The police would like to investigate whether the violence is a habit and whether it could possibly occur again. According to Le Parisien, the woman was already known to the police.