Prince lived with his parents and two brothers. (Express photo)Six-year-old Prince Kumar liked to draw houses — in hues of bright red, green and saffron, nestled between hills, lakes and clouds. Prince died inside his own house in west Delhi’s Inderpuri on Saturday night, after a stray bullet hit him in the head when he peeked out of his window on hearing gunshots. “He had his drawing exam in school. My Prince liked drawing houses and pasted them all around the house, signing his name. He died in his own bed… All he did was peek out the window,” said Geeta Kumar, his mother.
Read: Child dead, man injured in firing outside gym
On Saturday night, residents looked out from their balconies and windows after they heard gunshots inside FXG gym, located on the ground floor of the building where Prince lived. Eyewitnesses reported that they saw two men, with two guns each, firing indiscriminately.
Additional DCP (west) Sameer Sharma said four residents of Inderpuri JJ colony are involved and their locations are being tracked.
Police said the men got into a scuffle with a gym employee, Sunny, last week after he intervened in a fight. The accused assaulted him with an iron rod, following which Sunny gathered a group of youngsters and assaulted several members of the group.
“The accused fired 10-12 rounds inside the gym in retaliation. As per the FIR by the gym owner, Mahesh, the accused saw the boy peeking and fired at him,” claimed a police officer.
A class I student, Prince lived with his father, Sarvesh Kumar, a daily wage labourer, his mother and brothers Rohit (12) and Vikas (10). “On Monday, I had my science exam, but Prince did not have any. He would have gone to school and watched Tom and Jerry cartoons at home. On Tuesday he had a drawing exam,” Vikas (10) said as he pointed to a date sheet pasted on the wall. “He made that date sheet with our help,” he said.
The elder brother was silent. Every time his mother cried out for Prince, he held her hand. Geeta wanted her son to make a couple of drawings before the exam and promised to buy him barfi. “I bought him a packet. But we were having dinner and I told him to finish it first,” Geeta said, pointing towards the unopened packet.
On the night of the incident, the family had finished dinner when they heard the gunshots. While his mother was trying to usher them to their rooms, Prince got curious and looked out the window. His father and a gym employee rushed the boy to hospital on the latter’s scooter. “I could see the bullet wound through his head and his motionless eyes. Why should a child die in his own home, where he should be safe?” Sarvesh said.
