Thodupuzha (Ker): The 7-year-old boy who was left with a cracked skull and suffered critical head injuries after allegedly being assaulted by his mother’s partner in Kerala succumbs to his injuries.
The young child who had battled for his life in the ICU for nine long days was on life support at the Kolanchery Medical College after sustaining critical head injuries. His death was confirmed by the medical board at 11:30 am on Saturday. The boy is believed to have been smashed to the ground and hit on the head with a stick by the accused on Thursday while the child was trying to protect his younger brother from being beaten up by the man, police said.
The boy was on ventilator support at the Kolanchery Medical College after sustaining a critical head injury and had internal bleeding. His death was confirmed by the medical board at 11:30 am on Saturday.
“There were fluctuations in his blood pressure level since Friday evening, and on Saturday morning his condition became worse. The death happened at 11.30 am,” said Dr Subin Francis, Assistant Professor (Forensics) from the Kolanchery Medical College. The boy’s body is currently being kept in the hospital mortuary.
On March 28, the 7-year-old boy was attacked by a man named Arun Anand who was a live-in partner of his mother. According to the victim’s 4-year-old brother’ statement to the Child Welfare Commission, he was attacked by the accused on his eyes, arms and head until he collapsed. The sibling’s statement to the child welfare commission also became crucial for the authorities to identify the accused,
In her statement to the police, the mother had said that the 7-year-old was supposed to ensure that his younger brother went to the bathroom before going to bed. On Thursday, the day of the attack, the victim had slept off without making sure his brother had urinated. This resulted in the assault by the accused. During initial police questioning, the mother had denied that the victim was assaulted by the accused and instead stated that it was an accident.
However, what shocked Kerala further was the revelation that the accused had also allegedly sexually abused the boy, according to the statement by his brother. With the boy’s death, the police have now slapped section 302 (murder), 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act has been slapped against the accused. He already has a POCSO case against him for sexually assaulting the child.
