The boy is in a age group of 12-13, police said.
"The boy and his mother (both ragpickers) had a quarrel last night and in a fit of rage the minor attacked his mother with a knife used for cutting vegetables," a police official said.
The woman died of injuries and the boy is absconding, he said.
The body of the woman was handed over to her close relatives after a postmortem, the official added.