Minnesota – A Minnesota woman, 35-year-old S. Dahar, was arrested last week, two years after the death of her child, A. AbduIIahi, who coIIapsed in June 2023 and died several weeks later at a hospital. The mother’s charges include second-degree mansIaughter, four counts of chiId endangerment, and one count of harassment.
Minnesota authorities began investigating after the 3-year-old coIIapsed at a local park in June 2023. First responders found him in cardiac arrest, severely maInourished, and exhibiting signs of dehydration. He died in the hospital several weeks later.
According to court documents, the parent told officers that her child had been iII for about a week prior to the incident. She claimed that he had refused solid food the day before and appeared tired, but she believed he was improving. The woman explained that she took her children to the beach, thinking that sunlight would help the child recover. She also mentioned giving him a sip of water, after which his eyes rolled back .
Further investigation revealed disturbing allegations from the woman’s other children, aged 5 to 9, who were placed in their father’s care after he returned from an international trip. The children reported that the victim would restrict their food intake, allowing them only small portions, and would force them to vomit if they gained weight. One child stated that this behavior had been ongoing for years. Medical examinations confirmed that all five children were severely malnourished and underweight .
The cause of death was determined to be a brain injury resulting from cardiac arrest, worsened by a staph infection, strep throat, bronchopneumonia, maInutrition, and an E. coIi urinary tract infection, according to doctors. Doctorsstated that the child’s severe malnutrition greatly increased the likelihood of the infections found during the autopsy and significantly raised the risk of a severe or fatal outcome, the criminal complaint says.
The father provided additional information about the other children, saying they would only eat a spoonful of food at a time and told him that doctors were not good people because they kiII people. The children also reportedly described to their father a method where the woman forced them to vomit if they gained too much weight. To do this, the defendant would sometimes put objects in their throats, describing it as a form of medication or massage to induce vomiting, police said.
Other times, the children said the parent would sit on their stomachs until they vomited. In other instances, the mother allegedly jammed her fingers down their throats until they threw up, according to the complaint. The children also described a related punishment system. When one child complained about a sibling being forced to vomit, the mother would allegedly force that child to vomit as well. One child told police that this inducement of vomiting had been going on for years.