Hyderabad: A five-year-old boy was allegedly smothered and beaten to death by his mother’s live-in partner in a brutal assault at their rented house in Kamareddy town on Friday. Police arrested the accused and the boy’s mother. Shravan was allegedly killed around 4.30 pm at their house in Sriramnagar Colony while his mother Laxmi was away. His sister Sameera, 8, was present in the house at the time of the alleged incident. Based on the statement of Sameera, the lone eyewitness, police said Laxminarasimhulu, a labourer who had been living with Laxmi, came to the house and attacked Shravan without provocation. “We have arrested Laxminarsimhulu and Laxmi. They planned to eliminate the boy, who has mental health problems, and send Sameera to her grandmother to clear their way for the marriage. The accused will be produced before the magistrate for judicial remand,” Kamareddy additional SP B Chaitanya Reddy said. The incident came to light after relatives were informed that the boy had been taken to the govt hospital, where doctors declared him dead. Sameera told relatives that the accused repeatedly slapped the boy, poured chilli powder into his eyes, allegedly smothered him by closing his mouth and nose, threw him to the ground several times, then took him to the bathroom where he poured water on him and stomped on him. Accused takes boy to hospShe further stated that after the assault, the accused reportedly forced her to clean the scene. When blood began oozing from Shravan’s nose, Laxminarasimhulu carried him on his shoulder to the govt hospital, claiming the boy had become unconscious at home. In a complaint, boy’s relative D Ramesh, a daily wage labourer, claimed Laxmi is his niece, who has recently shifted to Kamareddy with her two children. Laxmi’s husband T Bhaskar had reportedly abandoned the family soon after Shravan’s birth five years ago. Police said Laxmi had initially stayed with her father in Rajampet village and travelled daily to Kamareddy, where she worked as a sweeper at the local bus stand. On Ramesh’s complaint, police registered a murder case under section 103(1) of the BNS.
