MP: Two-year-old boy beheaded by relative over property dispute

A man beheaded a two-year-old boy over a property dispute in Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh on Monday. The incident occurred at Harhawa village under Waidan police station of the district, about 760 km east of Bhopal, the police said.

A man beheaded a two-year-old boy over a property dispute in Singrauli district of Madhya Pradesh on Monday.

The incident occurred at Harhawa village under Waidan police station of the district, about 760 km east of Bhopal, the police said.

The boy, Pradeep Kumar, was alone at home when the accused, Ramji Prajapati, who had a property dispute with the boy's parents, entered the house and slit the minor's throat with a sickle.

The boy's mother, grandmother and father were working in a nearby field when the incident occurred. On hearing the boy's cries, his mother ran to the house and saw the accused slitting the boy's throat. Though she shouted for help, the accused managed to escape. Later, villagers nabbed him and handed him over to the police.

According to the police, the accused is a resident of Parsal village of Chhattisgarh and is a distant relative of the boy's grandfather Hanslal Prajapati. Police said the accused wanted a share of Hanslal's property on behalf of his wife who is also Hanslal's cousin.

The accused had come to the village on February 7 and was staying at one of his relative's house. The accused and the grandfather of the deceased had a meeting to settle the land dispute on Sunday. But as the discussion failed to bring any results, Ramji was angry and decided to kill Hanslal's only grandson, the police said.

Waidan police station in-charge, Mahendra Singh said, "The accused has been arrested and is being interrogated. He has confessed to his dispute with the grandfather of the deceased over property. He would be produced before the court on Tuesday."