A 14-year-old boy studying in class 9 died after his father beat him with a cricket bat over his mobile phone addiction and wayward ways on Friday (November 16). The father, Ravi Kumar, 44, a carpenter, has been arrested.
The boy, Tejas, was declared “brought dead” when his mother, realising he was breathless, rushed him to a private hospital on Friday afternoon.
While the family was trying to conduct the last rites in an apparent attempt to hush up the case, alert neighbours tipped off the police.
During interrogation, the boy’s mother confessed to what had happened. The police are now ascertaining why the private hospital didn’t flag the case as per protocol.
In her complaint to the police later, the boy’s mother, Shashikala, said Tejas, her second son, hadn’t been going to school for 15 days. He was addicted to playing games and watching reels on his mobile phone and was roaming around with his friends.
She said, “On Thursday night, Tejas asked me to get his mobile phone repaired, but I said I would do so only if he went to school. He then pushed me and hit me on my head, and I fell down. He also abused me in a filthy language. When the father and son began quarrelling, I went to a temple and returned home only the next morning.”
She said when she reached home around 8 a.m. on Friday, the father-son duo were still quarrelling. He then beat up Tejas with a cricket bat and also bashed his head against the wall. The boy collapsed.
The mother, disturbed by the turn of events, again went to a temple. On her return, she found Tejas breathless and not responding properly, prompting her to take him to a hospital, where he was declared dead. She said her husband hid the cricket bat after he came to know that her son had died.
Published – November 17, 2024 07:14 am IST
