Mumbai:
In a rare verdict, a man has been sentenced to five years imprisonment by a local court for abetting the suicide of his 11-year-old son whom he frequently battered to discipline if he skipped school.
Sessions Judge N G Gimekar convicted 40-year-old Diwan Singh, a gas cylinder supplier, under section 305 (abetment of suicide of a child or insane person) IPC.
The court, while delivering its judgement last Friday, noted that there was evidence to suggest that the boy had ended his life as he was suffering from severe depression because of frequent beatings by his father.
The boy, a fourth standard student at Oriental School at suburban Oshiwara, used to live with his father in a one-room tenement at Adarsh Nagar.
Singh's estranged wife and minor daughter lived in Uttarakand after separation in 2007.
According to prosecution, on July 13 last year, when Singh returned home he saw his son lying unconscious in the bathroom. He then rushed the child to a government hospital where he was declared dead. The post mortem report indicated that the boy had consumed phenyl.
20 bruise marks were seen on the boy's body and there were also signs of hemorrhaging.
Singh had admitted before the police that he used to beat his son to discipline him as he used to bunk school and run away from home. On certain occasions, Singh said, he had filed missing complaints with the police.
Police had also recorded statements of neighbours who said the man used to beat his son with sticks and belts and they often had intervene to stop him.
Singh pleaded that he be let off with a lighter sentence as he had to take care of his daughter.
In his statement under Section 313 Crpc at the end of the trial, he told the court that he had no idea why his son had committed suicide and that his death had hurt him.
Public Prosecutor Ashok Joshi pleaded for a maximum sentence of ten years. However, the court sentenced him to five years imprisonment due to Singh's poor health. Part of the five year jail term will be set off against the 17 months he has already served.
Police had filed the charge sheet in the case last year.
Six witnesses, including four of Singh's neighbours, had testified against him.