20-year-old kills ailing father for wetting bed

The unemployed son, Sumit Kumar, would have passed off the murder, which took place on Friday, as natural death if not for his mother’s suspicion, said police

A 20-year-old man strangled to death his partially paralysed and bedridden father, 45, who urinated in his bed after consuming liquor together at their home in central Delhi’s Anand Parbat, police said on Monday, adding that the son was arrested for murder.

An FIR was lodged against Sumit Kumar under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code, police said. He was arrested on Saturday.

The unemployed son, Sumit Kumar, would have passed off the murder, which took place on Friday, as natural death if not for his mother’s suspicion, said Shweta Chauhan, deputy commissioner of police (central).

Sumit used to live with his father, Rajender Kumar — who was unable to move by himself as he was paralysed from below the waist, had weak limbs and suffered from obesity, police said. Sumit’s mother was estranged from his father and lived elsewhere, the DCP said.

“Given that the victim was paralysed for two years, it seemed improbable that he would be killed by his son. So, we didn’t arrest Sumit until doctor carrying out the autopsy conveyed to us that the death was by strangulation, and we found evidence of his involvement,” said Chauhan.

An FIR was lodged against Sumit Kumar under section 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code, police said. He was arrested on Saturday.

According to the police, the father-son duo would often spend their day drinking together. “But Sumit was tired of tending to his father who weighed over 110kg and was bedridden,” said the officer. “He found it difficult to even move his father for necessary chores. If he had to take his father to the doctor, he told us he would have to call three-four people from their neighbourhood to assist him. All this left him frustrated and irritated with his father,” Chauhan said.

On Friday too, the duo spent their entire day drinking together. When it was time to wrap up at around 8pm, the father was too drunk, police said. “He ended up urinating in his bed. This was a trigger for a frustrated Sumit who chose to strangle his father rather than clean him up,” the officer said.

Soon after that, Sumit informed the neighbourhood that his father had died.

The wife of the deceased, however, suspected that it was not a natural death. “For some reason, she suspected her son’s involvement in the murder. It was unbelievable as there were no visible strangulation marks on the neck, but we didn’t dismiss her suspicion,” said the DCP.

A postmortem examination was carried out on Saturday. “The official report is yet to arrive, but doctors informally told us that he died due to strangulation,” Chauhan said.

Subsequent investigation found that another man was also drinking with the father and the son until 6.30pm that evening, police said, adding that man informed that Sumit was the last person with his father that evening.