THODUPUZHA (IDUKKI): A muddied wreath of flowers, under green coconut fronds, marks his lonely grave. On Saturday, the seven-year-old left this world which had given him only scary days and sleepless nights of late, but not before valiantly battling for life over nine days from a hospital bed.
The residents of Manchikallu, Thodupuzha — shock, disbelief and anger writ large on their faces — are yet to come to terms with the barbaric murder of the young boy by his mother’s partner. After Saturday’s funeral, the boy’s mother, grandmother and younger brother left the house, perhaps to stay away from the unwanted glare.
“They left in the night itself, after the funeral. We believe they’ve left for Kattappana, fearing unwanted attention and questions from different people,” said Sivadas, a neighbour who had close ties with the family.
“When her husband Biju suffered a cardiac arrest, it was the elder boy who came running to us, seeking help to take his father to the hospital. We can’t believe he’s no more. After Biju’s death, she was at her home, here at Manchikallu, for about five months before going with Arun Anand. She never returned after that,” said Sivadas.
After the beastly incident on March 28, the mother and her partner were unable to face questions and were giving vague answers. Accident and emergency physician Dr Sheikh Ansari, one of the first to have treated the boy at Chazhikattu Hospital, said even when doctors recommended immediate surgery as the only solution for the boy’s survival, they were reluctant to give their consent.
“The initial treatment was given as soon as he was brought to the hospital. He was unconscious and gasping, a stage just before a cardiac arrest. The mother and her partner were not paying attention to the boy’s serious condition even then. She was completely on her phone and he was fully drunk,” said Dr Ansari.
The two informed the boy had injured himself after falling from a sofa while playing at 3.15 a, when the kids had woken up on their mother’s return.
“The contradictions in their statements made it very clear the boy had been attacked. We immediately called the police. Had they not arrived in time, the two would’ve escaped easily from the hospital,” said Dr Ansari.
The journey from Chazhikattu Hospital to MOSC Hospital at Kolencherry was equally eventful. “The mother was consoling her partner for no reason and didn’t seem to be worrying about the condition of her son, who was on ventilator. Arun was constantly hurling abuses at her and the police throughout the journey,” said Ambulance ICU Nurse Albin Thomas.
“As of now, since there’s no case against the mother, we can’t take the child away from her. Based on the report, the CWC will take further steps,” said an officer.
The boy’s ordeal shook the state’s collective conscience. It could have been avoided, say experts, had teachers and others in the know had intervened and alerted authorities. The forlorn grave, a silent mound of fresh mud, will remain as a lasting image about the cruel fate, which snuffed out his life.