3-year-old boy’s body found in Delhi public toilet

The body was found inside one of the 20 toilets on the first floor of the public facility that are used by men. A pair of shorts, a packet of biscuits, and a ₹10 note and ₹5 coin were found inside the toilet near the boy’s body

The body of a three-year-old boy was found in a public facility (toilet and bathroom) run by Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board (DUSIB) at Sanjay Colony slum near Jhilmil Industrial Area in east Delhi on Thursday afternoon, police said.

The public facility where the body was found. (HT Photo)

The body was found inside one of the 20 toilets on the first floor of the public facility that are used by men. A pair of shorts, a packet of biscuits, and a ₹10 note and ₹5 coin were found inside the toilet near the boy’s body, prompting the police to launch a murder investigation in the case, besides exploring other possibilites.

The parents of the child and their neighbours alleged that the boy might have been raped and murdered by a drug-addict, and added that several illegal drugs users frequented the complex.

The police, however, have ruled out sexual assault, citing the initial findings of the post-mortem report. The doctors who conducted the autopsy on Friday told the police about fractures in the boy’s ribs that may have led to his death. It was not immediately clear how the victim suffered the fractures, said a senior police officer privy to the probe details, and added that they were looking into the role of drug addicts behind the boy’s death.

Police said there were no visible injury marks on the boy’s body. The exact cause of death is still being ascertained as the police are awaiting the child’s final post-mortem report. No FIR (first information report) had been registered in the case till Friday evening.

“The sexual assault angle has been ruled out after the autopsy. There was no sign that indicated that a substance was injected into the boy’s body. We are waiting for the final autopsy report to establish the exact cause of death and will take legal action accordingly. The possibility of the child being murdered is still being probed,” said deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara) R Sathiyasundaram.

The DCP said the incident was reported around 4pm on Thursday by a local resident who saw the body inside the public toilet. A police team reached the public facility and found that the body had been removed from the toilet and was kept on the floor near the staircase. The body was sent to the nearby Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital.

A second senior police officer said that an old, empty bottle of an anti-allergic medicine was found in the toilet, besides an empty rolling paper box and some used rolling papers, suggesting that the premises was frequented by drug addicts. However, no syringes were found there, he added.

Citing information shared by the boy’s parents during premliminary questioning, the police said that the boy had fallen from the stairs around 10 days ago. The police added that the boy was not taken to an authorised medical practitioner or a hospital for treatment.

“There is a possibility that the child had fractured his ribs due to the fall, and that he may have slipped again in the toilet suffering a fatal injury,” the second officer said.

The boy’s mother, however, rejected the police contention, and said that her son was raped and murdered. She said that her son never went to the toilet alone, and was afraid of going to the first floor of the public facility even with his father. “I always took him to the women’s toilet on the ground floor. How did he reach the first floor alone and why was his body found in a toilet located on the corner of the first floor. The police should probe the murder of my son and help us get justice,” she said.

Besides his parents, the boy had a two-year-old sister. The family belongs to Bihta, near Patna in Bihar. They had moved to Delhi for livelihood around two months ago. The victim’s father works in a cable manufacturing factory in Jhilmil Industrial Area and earns ₹9,000 per month.

“I had gone to collect my pending salary from my employer as we had to leave for our hometown on Friday. When I returned home around 3.30 pm, some neighbours told me that my son has died, and his body was found inside the public toilet. Someone killed my son,” said the father of the child.

Locals residents alleged that “some outsiders” have turned the first floor of the public facility into a drinking, smoking and narcotics consumption zone. “Many drug addicts lock themselves in the toilets, inject or snort smack (heroin) and psychotropic fluids. They have removed taps, iron pipes and grille and sold them to buy drugs. The caretaker of the public facility provides them a safe place in lieu of money,” said Shehnaz Khatoon, a local resident.

DUSIB CEO K Mahesh said that he has ordered a preliminary enquiry into the matter and “action will be taken” based on the findings.

Bipin Rai, a DUSIB member, said, “What happened is unfortunate and we will take action against the agency, which was managing the toilet complex, and also officials concerned who are responsible for DUSIB facilities. Such lapses are unacceptable. We will also take measures to fix responsibility.”

This is the second case of death of a three-year-old child reported from the east district this week. On Tuesday, the charred and decomposed body of a three-year-old boy with his head severed, and one hand missing was found in a forested area near Meerut, six days after he was kidnapped from outside his home in Chitra Vihar near Preet Vihar.