A mother who left her 15-month-old daughter to drown on a French beach told a court on Monday she had fallen prey to "witchcraft", reports The Telegraph.
Fabienne Kabou, 39, from France, faces life in prison for the premeditated murder of Adelaide in the northern resort town of Berck-sur-Mer on November 19 2013.
Her lawyer described her as "extremely intelligent … but subject to irrational beliefs".
Ms Kabou had checked into a hotel and asked locals about the tides before reportedly breastfeeding the child on the beach that night and leaving her as the sea came in. The toddler was found the following day still in her pram.
She later told police she had chosen the town, on France’s Channel coast between Calais and Dieppe, because “even the name sounded sad”. "Berck" sounds like the French word for "yuk".
The next day she returned to Paris by train.
After a ten-day search, police used DNA from the pram to trace Ms Kabou to the home she shares with her 63-year-old painter-sculptor boyfriend, Michel Lafon, in Paris, where she was arrested.
The case shocked France and prompted hundreds to take to the streets in a so-called "White March" demonstration against child cruelty.
Ms Kabou on Monday told St-Omer court: "I put an end to her life because it was easier that way. Everything went perfectly. It was as if I felt carried along, I just couldn't say stop."
When asked by the judge what her motives were, she said: "There is no other explanation than witchcraft."