Father beats son to death in south Delhi’s Khanpur

Allegedly angry at his five-year-old son for playing games on a mobile phone instead of studying, a man beat him to death at their home in south Delhi’s Khanpur village on Thursday evening, the police said.

The suspect allegedly used a wooden stick to hit the boy, eventually knocking him unconscious. “The beating left visible bluish-black marks on the boy’s back, legs, hands and neck,” said Benita Mary Jaiker, deputy commissioner of police (south).

The 27-year-old man, who works for a dairy firm, was arrested and booked for murder by the Neb Sarai police.

The DCP said that the questioning of neighbours revealed that he would often get angry at the boy for not studying, scold him frequently and occasionally beat him up.

The boy lived with his parents and three-year-old sister in a one-room rented house in Khanpur village. He was studying in Class 1. His mother works as a receptionist.

She was away at work when her husband returned home around 6pm on Thursday to find the boy playing a game on his mobile phone instead of studying. ”The man told us that when he scolded his son, he didn’t listen. That angered him so much that he began beating the boy,” the DCP said.

The boy eventually collapsed. A while after the man left the unconscious boy in the house and walked out, his wife walked in.

Helped by a neighbour, she rushed the child to Max Hospital in Saket where he was declared dead on arrival. Hospital authorities informed the police that the boy’s body bore several injuries. The police reached the hospital to find the boy’s parents, sister and a neighbour in attendance.

Around the same time, an anonymous person dialled the child helpline number to alert them about a boy being taken to Max Hospital after a thrashing by his father, the DCP said.

The police began a probe, but the man denied beating the boy even as his wife seemed unaware of the incident. “We then enquired in the neighbourhood to learn of the man’s violent behaviour towards his son. When we confronted him, he confessed to the crime,” the DCP said.

Investigations have not found any abuse by the boy’s mother or her role in the death. The police have recovered the stick allegedly used in the crime.