MUMBAI: An autorickshaw driver has been arrested for assaulting a four-year-old boy in Vasai, slamming him to the ground and dragging him up a flight of stairs, to take revenge on the child’s father over an old dispute.
The child is battling for his life in the intensive care unit (ICU) of a Mira Road hospital after being denied treatment in four Vasai hospitals.
Vasai police said the child, Vignesh, is the son of Atul Kondhare, 32, and the family lives in Anupam Ghar Sankul building near the Vasai court. Vignesh was playing with other children within the society’s premises at 8:00pm on Monday, when he wandered into a rickshaw parked in the compound and sat inside it. Upon seeing this, the rickshaw driver, Sandeep Pawar, 27, grabbed Vignesh and slammed his head against the iron bar, to which the rickshaw’s meter is attached. He then dragged the child by his legs and swung him, slamming his head against the ground.
Not stopping there, Pawar dragged the boy along the ground by his legs, took him to the staircase leading to the first floor, and continued to assault him. When Vignesh’s grandmother intervened to rescue him, the accused assaulted her as well. The incident has been captured on the housing society’s CCTV.
{{/usCountry}}Not stopping there, Pawar dragged the boy along the ground by his legs, took him to the staircase leading to the first floor, and continued to assault him. When Vignesh’s grandmother intervened to rescue him, the accused assaulted her as well. The incident has been captured on the housing society’s CCTV.
{{/usCountry}}Neighbours who witnessed the incident phoned Kondhare, who rushed his son to a hospital near their home. The hospital staff refused to admit the child as they were not equipped to treat his injuries. “Three more hospitals refused admission, asking us to take him to Mira Road. At 11pm, we rushed Vignesh to Wockhardt Hospital, where he was admitted to the ICU,” said Kalpesh Patil, a resident of the same building and a witness to the incident.
Kondhare lodged a complaint with the Vasai police, who has arrested Pawar and booked him for attempt to murder under section 109, violently causing harm under section 115 of the BNS and sections of the Juvenile Justice Act.
Senior police inspector Balkrishna Ghadigaonkar said Pawar had a prior dispute with the child’s father, and he had assaulted the child to take revenge on his father. “We are trying to find out what the dispute was,” said Ghadigaonkar.
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