A husband and wife in Karnataka were taken into custody for torturing their three-year-old son to death. Harish and Renuka, who got married four years ago, had gone to the extent of stubbing out a cigarette butt on their toddler son Prithvi as they found him adamant and stubborn. Some friends of the couple even said the parents believed the little boy was 'possessed of devil'.
Nanjundaiaih, Harish's father, filed a case at the Malur police station after he witnessed his daughter-in-law injuring Prithivi whit a cigarette butt until he passed out, reports The News Minute. The couple has been booked under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Nanjundaiaih said that Prithvi was an energetic and mischievous child who threw tantrums often. The parents did not know how to handle him. Nanjundaiaih and his son and daughter-in-law live in the same building with the older man staying on the ground floor while the couple and their son in the first.
"My son Harish fell in love with Renuka and they got married four years ago. They live in the apartment above mine and had a son Prithvi. From time to time, my son Harish would tell me that he was fed up of dealing with Pritvi's tantrums. In those times, I would tell him to consult a doctor and maybe figure out if there was a problem that we didn't know about," Nanjundaiaih's complaint read, according to TNM. However, the couple didn't heed to Nanjundaiaih's wishes.
After some advice by friends, Harish and Renuka took Prithvi to a faith healer on February 25, Monday. "Prithvi once again began shaking his head and crying and screaming. It looked like he wanted to convey something but we could not understand. Later, Harish and Renuka took him to a healer, who said some prayers for him. This was at around 7 pm on Monday," Nanjundaiaih said.
They came back and late Monday night, at 11 pm, Prithvi began throwing another tantrum. Renuka started hitting him to be quiet which made the situation even worse. Nanjundaiaih, hearing the commotion went up. "When I went there, I saw Renuka had snatched the cigarette from Harish and was burning my grandson's body all overusing it. By the time I managed to stop her, Prithvi had become unconscious," Nanjundaiaih said.
By 12:15 AM in the intervening night on Monday and Tuesday, Prithvi was admitted to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. According to the police reports, the little boy's body had cigarette burns as well as injuries, including on his genitals.
