Thodupuzha: The younger brother of a seven-year-old boy, who was brutally killed by his mother's live-in partner at Thodupuzha in Kerala's Idukki district a few months ago, would continue to live under the protection of his grandfather in Thiruvananthapuram for two more months. Idukki district Child Welfare Committee (CWC) chairman Dr Joseph Augustine has issued instructions in this regard.
The paternal family of the children had approached the Child Welfare Committee (CWC), seeking custody of the boy. The boy was then placed under the grandfather's protection for a month. Though the CWC had asked the child to be produced before it on May 31, the grandfather did not comply. In the meantime, the grandfather moved the Thiruvananthapuram court, seeking permanent custody of the child.
The children’s father Biju had died earlier.
Meanwhile, the child's grandmother on the maternal side approached the High Court, alleging that she was not being allowed to contact the boy over the phone and that he is not being cared for. As the child was not presented before the court on May 31, the grandmother filed a habeas corpus case in the High Court. The HC then asked the boy to be presented before the Idukki CWC on Monday and instructed the panel to make an appropriate decision. After the HC ruling, both parties appeared before the CWC on Monday.
To address the grandmother's concerns, the boy was referred to the child psychiatrist at the SAT Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. It was also instructed to analyse the circumstances at home and provide treatment if needed.
Special instructions were also issued for the child protection unit and the CWC in Thiruvananthapuram to check on the child. The Idukki CWC also instructed that the child should be allowed to speak to his grandmother over the land phone during the daytime. The chairman also said that the child should be taken to the CWC office in Thiruvananthapuram once in a month and be allowed to meet his grandmother.
His elder brother was brutally assaulted by his mother's live-in partner Arun Anand on March 28, 2019, and he succumbed to the injuries on April 6. Both the mother and her partner were arrested by the police.
The CWC chairman further said that though it was recommended that the mother should be charged under the Juvenile Justice Act for the crime, it was apparently not followed.
The elder child's harrowing tale began at 1.30 am on March 28, 2019 (Thursday). The mother and her live-in partner Arun Anand, who is also her late husband Biju's first cousin (Father's sister's son), locked their two sons, one seven years old and the other four years, from outside the bedroom and left for a late night dinner. According to the mother, Arun used to tell her that they should leave the boys alone at home so that they could grow up as brave boys.
She trusted him and left for dinner and returned around 3am. They found the kids sleeping and the couple also got into the bed. Arun realised that the four-year-old kid had wetted the bed. This infuriated him and he thrashed the elder boy for not taking the younger one to wash room before they went to bed. Six-foot tall Arun kicked the kid in the stomach. The kid was thrown up in the air and banged his head against the wall. He was picked up and thrown again. This time the child's head hit the edge of a steel almirah. Arun then grabbed the kid's head and banged it against the cot. The kid fell on the ground. Arun kicked several times and dragged him through other rooms also. This left blood stains everywhere. Arun also beat the mother who tried to intervene. The 4-year-old was also beaten. The room was cleaned and the younger one was locked up again before taking the elder child to hospital.
Around 3.50am, the mother and Arun took the kid to a hospital in Thodupuzha where the mother stated that the kid had fallen from the bed but the doctors referred him to the medical college at Kolenchery in Ernakulam district as he was in a critical condition. The cops soon arrested Arun and he was also slapped with charges under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act for sexually abusing the younger kid apart from attempt to murder. After the boy's death, the cops charged him with murder.
The cops also talked to the younger child and he narrated the whole incident to police. Arun and the mother of the boy were staying at the rented house at Kumaramangalam on the pretext of being a married couple. The family remained rather isolated as they did not maintain any close connections with their neighbours. The boy's mother is a BTech graduate from Udumbannoor village in Idukki district and Arun is also a civil engineering degree holder from Nanthankode in Thiruvananthapuram district.
According to relatives, the mother trusted every word of Arun because apparently he was the only person who supported her to recover the shock of her husband's death last year. She was married to Biju from Thiruvananthapuram. Biju had set up a workshop at Vengalloor near Thodupuzha after the marriage. They were blessed with two sons and Biju died following a heart attack in May, 2018. Biju's body was cremated at his native place in Thiruvananthapuram. The wife also went to Thiruvananthapuram for the funeral where she stayed for a few days with her in-laws. She met Arun, who is Biju's first cousin, there.
After Biju's death, Arun, who is a divorcee, became close to the woman. She finally decided to live with Arun, taking her kids along. Her mother was against this but she was adamant. The mother also approached the police but the woman told a court that she wanted to go with Arun. But they never married officially. The woman's mother did not allow Arun to stay in her house. So, the couple lived in Thiruvananthapuram for a while before moving to Kumaramangalam near Thodupuzha. Arun was also first married to a model and he has a 10-year-old daughter from that marriage. They were divorced later. The daughter now lives with her mother.
Arun reopened the workshop owned by Biju and started managing things there. But the woman or Arun never visited her mother at Udumbannoor. According to vernacular newspaper reports, Arun is known as 'Cobra' among the underworld gangs of Thiruvananthapuram.