Man claims he killed son to implicate tenant who wasn’t paying rent

Shanti Prasad, a peon at the ministry of steel, has allegedly claimed he killed his son, Mohit, to implicate his tenant. Prasad claimed his tenant was neither vacating the house nor paying rent since the past few months.

The father of a 13-year-old boy, whose body in school uniform was found on a vacant plot at Sunehri Bagh in Lutyens’ Delhi on Friday night, was arrested after he confessed to the murder.

The vacant premises where the body of Mohit was found on Friday night at Sunehri Bagh in Lutyens’ Delhi. (Ravi Choudhary/HT photo)

Police are baffled with the reason he gave for killing his son.

Shanti Prasad, a peon at the ministry of steel, has allegedly claimed he killed his son, Mohit, to implicate his tenant. Prasad claimed his tenant was neither vacating the house nor paying rent since the past few months.

Prasad’s blood-soaked shirt was recovered from a lane near his house in central Delhi’s Gole Market.

“What had been preventing us from booking him since Saturday in the case is the reason behind the crime that he has given. It is beyond our imagination that a father can slit his son’s throat and brutally crush his face with a stone. We wanted to be doubly sure before pronouncing him the prime accused,” said an investigating officer.

Police arrested Prasad late on Saturday evening after questioning him throughout the day even though he admitted early in the day.

Prasad claimed the shirt recovered by the police belonged to him and he was wearing it at the time of the crime. He said after killing his son he changed his shirt and dumped it while returning home from the murder scene, which is near minister of state (home) Kiren Rijiju’s official residence.

Prasad was supposed to bring Mohit home after school but he asked his wife if he had reached home. When the wife questioned him about Mohit, Prasad abruptly left and went to his friend’s house.

“Prasad stayed there for almost an hour and when his friend asked him about his son, he said Mohit was murdered and he had seen his body at a vacant plot. When the friend enquired further, Prasad accompanied him to bungalow number 4, Sunehri Bagh, where Mohit’s body was lying near the entry gate wall,” the officer said.

The friend informed Mohit’s relatives who called the police control room.

The murder spot was near where Prasad’s tenants live. The knife used to slit Mohit’s neck was recovered from the pocket of the boy, said the officer.