GUWAHATI: In a ghastly incident, a three-week old infant boy was brutally murdered by a man who is the ex-husband of the victim's mother. The incident, which took place in Meghalaya capital Shillong in the wee hours of Tuesday, triggered an outrage among locals.
The accused, Clarence Jason Rajee, has been arrested by the police. Rajee had purportedly climbed up to the woman's house late at night and attacked her, leaving her injured. She was already weak as she had undergone an operation during delivery of the infant.
The accused then carried the infant to the terrace where the woman's mother lives in a house, and murdered him allegedly by breaking his limbs. Subsequently, he dumped the body in a bucket of water. Later on hearing screams, the grandmother went down to her daughter's room and saw her lying in a pool of blood. She was hit on the face by the accused.
The infant, subsequently found on the terrace, was rushed to a hospital but the doctors declared him dead on arrival. The police said the accused was out on bail. He was arrested last year in an abduction case. He was married to the child's mother and they have a four-year-old child. For reasons not known, they broke off.
The incident has numbed many. Shillong-based Civil Society Women's Organisation (CSWO) demanded strong action against the accused. "No bail should be granted to the person as there is fear among relatives as he has cautioned that he will harm other members of the family. Children are angels and do not deserve such a fate and as a society, we are bound to protect them. The law is provided for that and no harm should come to any child from murderous and sexually-prowling perpetrators," CSWO president Agnes Kharshiing said. The organisation urged the authorities to provide speedy justice to the victim's family.