Boy, 10, stabbed in Hague home; mother arrested

A 10-year-old boy was stabbed and injured in a home on Trezoriersdreef in The Hague on Sunday afternoon. He was taken to hospital for treatment. His 48-year-old mother was arrested as a suspect. She too was injured and taken to hospital, the police said in a statement.

The police responded to the home at around 1:00 p.m. after a report of a stabbing. They found the injured child and mother inside. The extent of the boy's injuries is not known. "At this time, the police cannot go into the matter further in the interests of both the injured child and the arrested suspect", the police said. The investigation is ongoing.

According to newspaper AD, the boy managed to call for help through a bathroom window, where he'd locked himself in.

A witness who was waiting in her car for an appointment at the time told AD she heard shouting at around 1:00 p.m. "It seemed like a cry for help, but I didn't see anything in the street. There is a shelter for disabled young people on the other side and they often shout, I thought it came from there", the witness said. "But when neighbors came out and looked up, I saw the bloody hands of the boy from the window and I heard him calling that his mother had stabbed him." Neighbors called the emergency services. One neighbor rang the doorbell and the mother opened, the witness said. "The woman looked zombie-like."

Local residents who know the family are shocked by what happened, according to the newspaper. The mother is of Spanish descent, they said. "We don't see the father much, we have no contact with him. But the mother, who speaks Dutch fluently, is a very nice woman who participates in street activities", one neighbor said. "My son played football with the boy. He also heard him shouting when he went to take the garbage bags away, but he thought the boy was joking."