Priyanka Tiwari: NC woman who had 'almost no food in the house' arrested for starving her 10-year-old son to death

RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA: A North Carolina woman was apprehended this week after she starved her 10-year-old son to death and left him in the house for so long that the authorities found him in a badly decomposed state.

On Thursday morning, December 21, Priyanka Tiwari, 33, was taken into custody and charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of negligent child abuse resulting in serious bodily injury. 

When were the authorities informed about the incident?

According to a report from Raleigh, North Carolina, NBC affiliate WRAL, the Morrisville Police Department officers responded at about 5.35 pm on Wednesday, December 20, to a 911 call regarding an unresponsive boy at a home on Craigmeade Drive. Tiwari herself was the one to dial the emergency services, authorities said. The boy was, however, declared dead at the scene. 

“It was determined that significant time had passed since the child’s death due to the state of the body,” police said in a statement. The body was reportedly in a state of rigor mortis and was visibly decomposed.

Police almost found no food in Priyanka Tiwari's home

After a thorough search of the home, authorities were left stunned to find almost no food. They alleged that she “unlawfully, willfully, and feloniously did of malice aforethought kill and murder (her son).”

According to a report from Goldsboro, North Carolina, CBS affiliate WNCN, police had been called to the house eight times in the past year. Most of those calls were reportedly from family members in India requesting welfare checks after they had not been able to reach Tiwari for several days. Police said the boy’s tragic death will continue to affect the community and his surviving family.

What did the police say?

“You have other family members who, you know, have not only lost a child in their family, but they maybe lost a daughter that has been arrested,” Morrisville Chief of Police Pete Acosta told WRAL. The chief told the station the boy had lost “significant weight” in the months leading to his death, particularly in the final month. 

Authorities noted that they believe that the mother deliberately starved the boy to death, with neglect and abuse being contributing factors, but are holding off on declaring an official manner and cause of death until more evidence can be gathered. “Without the autopsy, we don’t know how the child passed away,” Acosta said.

WNCN reported that Tiwari’s husband in March of this year contacted police and asked them to follow him to the home so he could retrieve some personal items. “He was leaving, leaving the home, and so we followed him over there,” Acosta told WNCN, adding “He went and got several bags and left there was no issues.”

Priyanka Tiwari's husband had a domestic violence protective order against her 

Acosta also told the station that Tiwari’s husband has since had a domestic violence protective order put in place against his wife. He said there were no indications that officers responding to the house had seen the child since the March visit, at which time the boy “appeared to be of a very healthy weight, especially compared to the way he was found.”

Tiwari is being held without bond and is set to appear in court again on January 11.