Thodupuzha: A youth, who was accused of severely torturing the seven-year-old son of his lover in Thodupuzha in Idukki district, was arrested by the police on Friday. Thirty-six-year-old Arun Anand from Thiruvananthapuram was arrested as per the statements given by the mother and younger brother of the child.
Reports of the grisly attack emerged after Arun and the child's mother took him to a private hospital in Thodupuzha on Thursday.
The boy, who was allegedly swung by his leg and smashed on the ground by the accused, is battling for life following an emergency surgery. The boy, who also received a blow to the head with a stick, is now at a private hospital at Kolenchery after sustaining serious head injury, including a cracked skull.
The boy's younger brother, who is just four years, lost a tooth in the attack by the youth at their home at Kumaramangalam near Thodupuzha. He has been admitted to a private hospital in Thodupuzha. He has also bruises on his leg.
The younger boy gave a statement to the child welfare committee saying the man hit his brother with a stick and smacked him on the head. The man then grabbed the legs and smashed him on the floor. It was he who wiped the blood off his brother’s head after the attack, Child Welfare Committee Chairman Dr Joseph Augustine and committee members were told.
Surgery was required for the older boy since there was internal bleeding in the head. The boy’s condition is serious, hospital authorities said.
Police version
The seven-year-old boy was tortured after the younger child relieved himself on the bed, according to Thodupuzha DySP K P Jose. The accused kicked the child and threw him against a shelf. The child’s head hit the shelf and he fell down before Arun started kicking him. When the mother tried to prevent the torture, she too was beaten up. A statement to this effect was given by the woman to the police, said the DySP. The incident took place around 2am and the mother initially kept silent as she was threatened by Arun, added the police officer.
Arun was accused in six other cases, including a murder case dating back to 2008. The police said that Arun has a history of violence and has the habit of keeping weapons along with him.
The youth started living with the family after the kids’ father passed away a year ago. It is unknown if he and the mother are legally married, said the police.
They had rented the house at Kumaramangalam claiming to be a couple.
The matter came to light as Child Helpline authorities in Ernakulam and Idukki received message on the attack on Thursday morning. A doctor had informed the Helpline after he found cuts and bruises on the boy’s body.
Govt to bear medical expenses
The government has decided to take custody of the two children and pay for all the medical expenses, said Health and Social Welfare Minister K K Shailaja.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sought a report from the Idukki district administration on the development.
Arun, a history-sheeter, was taken into custody after discrepancies were found from the statements given by him and the child's mother. Cases under five sections have been registered against him under the Juvenile Justice Act and attempt to murder. He has also been booked by the Child Rights Commission, which said it was monitoring the measures initiated by the police.
The child’s mother and Arun had told the hospital authorities that the injuries were the result of a fall from the cot. However, finding that there was a mismatch between the statements given by the two, the hospital authorities had alerted Childline officials and the police.
Another reason for suspecting the youth was that he had shown reluctance to get into the ambulance taking the child to the Kolenchery hospital. Moreover, during medical examination, it was found that apart from the head, the child had suffered injuries to several other parts of the body.
The torture came to light during a probe conducted by the Idukki Child Welfare Committee. There were several marks of beatings on the child’s body which were inflicted over a long period, said the AEO.
Following a directive regarding shifting the woman’s younger child to a safe place, police officials checked the rented house at Kumaramangalam.
Kumili-model crime
It has been pointed that the Thodupuzha incident has much similarities with the inhuman torture a five-year-old boy Shafeeq was subjected to in Kumili a few years ago. On July 15, 2013, the boy was admitted to a private hospital at Kattappana in a serious condition. Though the child’s father and step mother were made the accused, the charge-sheet in the case was filed only recently.
The boy had 151 injuries on his body and a fractured left leg, apparently caused after being beaten with an iron rod. There was also a deep wound on the left side of the forehead, inflicted by a sharp metal object. The boy was under treatment for a long time and is now a student at a school in Thodupuzha.
