Basel - A 76-year-old woman has been convicted by the criminal court in the Swiss city of Basel of the murder of a 7-year-old boy.
However, the elderly woman was not given a prison sentence, due to absence of criminal responsibility, but instead was ordered to be taken into safe custody as requested by the prosecutor on Tuesday.
According to an expert report, the defendant suffers from a serious delusional disorder, namely a form of paranoia.
The court also rejected the parents' demand for compensation for personal suffering of 185,000 francs (202,000 dollars) and damages of around 18,700 francs.
The 7-year-old was stabbed with a kitchen knife by the 76-year-old on the way home from school in March 2019. The child died of serious injuries at the scene of the crime.
The elderly woman, who had been in dispute with authorities for decades, justified the killing of the child, whom she did not know, with her desperation. She acted in the heat of the moment, she said.
She regretted the act every day, but the authorities had pushed her too far, the woman said.
"You did not act in the heat of the moment, but consciously chose a defenceless child," said the judge, according to the news portal 20Minuten. The child didn't have a chance. "You stabbed the child like a lamb," she added.
The first stab of the knife in the neck was fatal.
The defendant had already wrote a text message with a confession a day before the crime was committed.
"You didn't do anything other than wait in front of the school until the last child came along alone," the judge said.
dpa