Mermaids told me to kill: woman who slashed five-year-old

A Johannesburg woman has been sent for mental observation after she allegedly stabbed a boy, saying the mermaids sent her, according to media report.

The Beeld newspaper reported that Charnice Smith, 29, from Jan Hofmeyer, appeared briefly in the Newlands Magistrate's Court on Tuesday after allegedly slashing a five-year-old boy in the back with a piece of glass.

She was arrested on the same day and charged with assault after the alleged attack last Wednesday.

According to the report, neighbours were doing renovations and Smith reportedly started screaming and swearing at children playing on the pavement.

The neighbour told them to ignore her but she later emerged from the house with a piece of glass and allegedly slashed one child's back.

"She screamed the 'mermaids' sent her to murder everybody," claimed neighbour Charon Scott, describing how she had to push the by then blood covered woman away from the children.

She said the boy's mother was relieved he was not dead or seriously hurt.

Smith was sent to Sterkfontein Hospital for mental observation and would return to court on August 28.