According to police, the incident took place on Wednesday. (Representational photo)A seven-year-old boy was brutally tortured by his mother’s live-in partner after the child’s three-year-old brother wet the bed at their home at Thodupuzha in Kerala’s Idukki district, police said on Friday.
Arun Anand, hailing from Thiruvananthapuram, was arrested on charges of attempting to murder the boy, who is now on life support system. Anand, who has a few criminal cases pending against him, started living with the boys’ mother seven months back after her husband died.
The incident has triggered an outrage and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has sought a report from the district administration.
According to police, the incident took place on Wednesday. The boys’ mother had gone out with Anand. When they returned late at night, Anand found that the three-year-old boy had wet the bed. “The elder boy had been asked to take his brother to the washroom before going to bed. Seeing that the younger one had wet the bed, Anand kicked him and flung him twice. The impact fractured his skull,’’ said DSP K P Jose.
Police said the mother took the boy to a local hospital, where she tried to convince doctors that her son fell off the bed. But, the incident was exposed during a preliminary inquiry by police and the district child welfare committee.
Police said Anand is a distant relative of the boys’ late father.
