Top News

Mumbai:  An autorickshaw driver brutally assaulted a four-year-old boy by lifting him by his legs and slamming him to the ground before smashing his head on an iron rod following an argument with the minor’s father in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, police said on Tuesday, March 31.

The incident took place in a housing society at Vasai on Monday night, following which the accused was arrested, they said, adding that the critically-injured child is battling for life in a hospital.

The incident was captured on a CCTV camera.

“The brutal incident took place around 8 pm on Monday. A minor argument between the accused autorickshaw driver Sandeep Pawar and the child’s father Atul Kondhare took a gruesome turn,” senior police inspector Balkrishna Ghadigaonkar told PTI.

Still holding the boy’s legs, Pawar then smashed the boy’s head into an iron pole and threw him to the ground again. The children present at the scene, shocked to witness the incident, were seen running away from the perpetrator.

The boy, Vignesh, was playing with other children in a parked autorickshaw. The accused then walked up to the vehicle and pulled the child out by his legs.

Still holding the boy’s legs, Pawar then smashed the boy’s head into an iron pole and threw him to the ground again. The children present at the scene, shocked to witness the incident, were seen running away from the perpetrator.

“But the brutality did not stop there. Pawar then rushed inside the building while holding the child, and smashed his head against an iron rod before throwing him to the ground again. This was done solely to avenge a fight he had earlier with the boy’s father over a minor issue,” Ghadigaonkar added.

The child sustained critical head injuries and was rushed to a hospital in Mira Road. He has been admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) at the medical facility and is battling for life, he said.

Accused Pawar was later arrested and remanded in three days of police custody by a local court.

A case was registered against him under section 109 (1) (attempt to murder) and other sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, the police official said, adding that a probe into the incident is underway.