Father arrested for choking 8-year-old son to death

Man arrested for choking 8-year-old son to death with paper in Thane. Discord between man and wife led to the tragic incident. Accused confesses to the murder.

THANE: A 50-year-old man was arrested for allegedly choking his eight-year-old son to death by stuffing paper in his mouth in Kasara on Wednesday. According to the Kasara police, the incident was an outcome of discord between the man and his wife. The police have arrested the accused under the charge of murder.

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Police stated that the accused, Eknath Namdev Gaikwad, a resident of Khurd village, Shahapur tehsil, Thane, struggled with alcoholism. This caused relationship issues between Eknath and his wife, Chhaya, to worsen over the past four months, leading to the incident.

Amidst the couple’s discord, Chhaya relocated to her parents’ home in Igatpuri taluka. Despite attempting to bring her two sons along, Eknath objected. In a subsequent visit to Eknath’s house a month ago, she was once again denied custody of the children.

On June 10, their younger son, Yuvraj, went missing in the morning. Eknath informed everyone and initiated a search. There was suspicion that Chhaya might have taken Yuvraj with her, but Chhaya clarified over the phone that Yuvraj was not with her. Later, Yuvraj’s uncle, Pandhari Gaikwad, found his body in the bushes 100 meters away from Eknath’s house, prompting the family to alert the police.

Following the discovery of Yuvraj’s body, the police launched an investigation and grew suspicious of Eknath’s account. According to the police, upon further interrogation, Eknath confessed to the murder. He revealed that on the day of the incident, Yuvraj verbally abused him for being a neglectful father and refusing to take him to his mother’s house. Enraged by the insult, Eknath forced paper balls into the child’s mouth, resulting in his death.

Senior police inspector KD Kolhe of Kasara police station said, “On the night of June 9, the accused was intoxicated when he argued with his son. He then took the child out, assaulted him and forcibly stuffed paper balls into his mouth, resulting in his choking. We have placed the accused under arrest on charges of murder.”