Migrant parents of dead boy struggled to make ends meet in Gurugram

The distraught father of a six-year-old boy, whose mutilated body was recovered from a vacant plot behind a five-star hotel in DLF Phase 1 on Tuesday afternoon, said the suspect could not have lured his boy with packet of biscuits if he would have provided better for his children.

The police suspect that a 12-year-old local boy might have been involved in the murder. Some eyewitnesses claimed that they had seen the victim following the suspect with a packet of biscuits in his hand. The victim lived in a slum located near the plot from where his body was found.

The victim’s parents said he frequently played with the children from the locality, mostly without any adult supervision.

“We never had enough money to buy chocolates or biscuits for our children and this is the reason I have lost my son. I am the sole breadwinner and my wife is a cancer patient. It is difficult to make both ends meet,” the boy’s father said.

The murdered boy had two younger sisters aged eight months and two years, and their mother is undergoing treatment at a government hospital.

None of the children had been enrolled in a school, said the father, adding that the boy, at times, used to go and sit in a makeshift school in the area.

The victim was last seen playing with a cycle tyre near the hutments with two of his friends.

“My son was fond of rolling a tyre with a stick. I could not afford any toy for him so he used to play with the stuff he found lying on the road. He never asked me to buy anything for him. I think he understood our situation,” the father said.

He also said that the family had moved from Bihar to Ballabgarh, Faridabad, two years ago. Since he could not find a job in Faridabad, the family shifted to Gurugram for better prospects.

The police say a lack of supervision makes children in slum clusters vulnerable where parents often do not have a safe support system when they go out for work. Last year, Gurugram police had registered 181 cases of heinous crimes against children.

“We will write to the women and child development department to carry out awareness programmes in vulnerable areas. The parents should educate their children not to go out with strangers and should not leave them unattended,” said Shamsher Singh, assistant commissioner of police (crime).

First Published: Apr 04, 2019 03:20 IST