The police have arrested a 68-year-old man for throttling his nephew to death in Ghatkopar. Himmat Goyal confessed to killing the 15-year-old after getting irritated by the boy’s antics.
According to his family, Shiv Pawar, a Class VIII student, lived with his mother in Rassiwala Chawl in Altaf Nagar, Ghatkopar (West), while Mr. Goyal lived next door, on the upper floor of a ground-plus-one storey structure.
Pooja Pawar, Shiv’s sister-in-law, said, “Shiv was alone at his home around 5 p.m. on Saturday after his mother had gone to the market. Since we didn’t see him for a long time, we went to his residence to look for him, but the door was locked with Mr. Goyal’s padlock. We tried to look for Mr. Goyal, but as he was also nowhere to be seen, so we broke open the door and saw Shiv lying unconscious.” He was rushed to Rajawadi Hospital, where the doctors declared him dead on arrival.
“The doctors told us that Shiv was strangulated and had scratch marks on his face. Only after their statement did we realise that it could be Mr. Goyal who killed Shiv as the residence was locked with his padlock. However, he was nowhere to be seen when we found Shiv,” Ms. Pawar said.
However, senior police inspector Kusum Waghmare said the accused was found at his residence and immediately confessed to committing the crime. “After we were informed from the hospital, officers went to Shiv’s residence and started interrogating people nearby. When Mr. Goyal was asked, he immediately confessed. We arrested him and have registered a case of murder against him under the Indian Penal Code,” she said.
Ms. Waghmare said the accused claimed that the child would bother him by bumping into him knowingly or entering his residence with footwear on, due to which he got angry. “On Saturday, Shiv annoyed him in a similar manner and the latter lost his cool and killed him,” she said.
Shiv was an only child and his mother is now left alone as his father passed away a few years ago.