Labourer killed 4-yr-old in Ludhiana to ‘teach mother a lesson’
On Wednesday afternoon, when the child went to the common bathroom of the labour quarters, the accused kidnapped and killed him by strangulation
A day after a four-and-a-half-year-old boy in Mukand Singh Nagar of Daba road was found brutally murdered, police arrested a 40-year-old labourer, Phool Chand alias Pappu on Thursday. The accused told the police that he wanted to get into a physical relationship with the child’s mother but when she did not give in, he decided to teach her a lesson.
On Wednesday afternoon, when the child went to the common bathroom of the labour quarters, the accused kidnapped and killed him by strangulation. The accused had also sexually assaulted the minor. After strangulation, the accused allegedly slit the child’s throat with a saw blade to make sure the four-year-old was dead, he told the police.
The accused further revealed that after murdering the child, he had brought liquor and consumed it.
Police commissioner Rakesh Agrawal said the cops had found the blade and belt used in the crime, near the child’s body. What helped the cops zero in on the accused was that the mother of the victim had seen him flee his room with the luggage soon after her child went missing.
He was arrested on Thursday when he was about to board a three-wheeler to reach the railway station. Phool Chand has confessed to his crime, police sources said.
A case under Sections 377 (unnatural offences), 302 (punishment for murder) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 4 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act has been registered against the accused.
Assistant commissioner of police (ACP, industrial area B) Sandeep Wadhera said the accused is unmarried and not in talking terms with his three siblings.
CRIME TOOK PLACE IN A ROOM OPPOSITE VICTIM’S ACCOMMODATION
The victim’s mother stated that her son had gone to the bathroom on Wednesday afternoon around 3.30 pm when was taking a nap. When she woke up, she found the child missing and started looking for him but in vain. Failing to locate him, she called her husband from the factory and started searching for the child. Later in the night, they found the child’s body later in the room opposite their rented accommodation.
During the investigation, the victim’s mother revealed that Phool Chand used to stalk her, but she did not take it seriously.
The victim was the older of two siblings. His sister is just 10 months old. His parents had not admitted him to pre-school but used to send him for tuitions near their house.
