US woman charged with child abuse after running over 7-year-old son with car

A woman in the US state of Alabama has been charged with aggravated child abuse after she ran over her seven-year-old son with a vehicle while he was walking back home as a form of punishment for getting into trouble at school.

A Fox News report identified the woman as 27-year-old Sarai Rachel James and the incident took place on February 9 in the city of Boaz.

The report said that James was informed that her son had been called to the principal’s office as he got into trouble earlier that day.

Shortly after she picked up her son from school, James stopped the car, asked him to get out of the vehicle and told him to walk back home as a form of punishment.

But when she slowed the car, the boy tried to grab the door handle, but James accelerated and, as a result, her son was pulled under the vehicle and was run over by the back tyre.

He received abrasions and was hospitalised.

Investigators said that James accidentally ran over her son and a city police official said it was a “miracle” that he was only injured.

The woman was arrested but was released three days later on a USD 50,000 bond.