Moscow nanny arrested with severed child's head

A nanny was arrested in Moscow on Monday after investigators discovered footage of a young woman carrying the severed head of a child near a city metro station. Local authorities said in a statement that the woman, who was undergoing psychiatric testing, had been charged with murder.

Online news outlet "LifeNews," which has close links to law enforcement, broadcast the video of a woman it asserted was the nanny wandering around, holding the head up in the air. The news portal wrote that the incident allegedly began when she was approached by police, which prompted her to pull the head from the bag and shout that she had killed the youngster.

"According to preliminary information, the child's nanny - a native of one of the Central Asian countries, born in 1977 - waited until the parents left the apartment with their elder child and, guided by unknown motives, killed the little one, set the apartment on fire and left the scene," said investigators, adding that the child was three of four years old and showed "signs of violent death."

They added that they were unable to tell immediately if the nanny "understands the meaning of her actions and behavior," and that they could offer no further comment until after the completion of her mental health evaluation.

es/kms (AFP, Reuters)