Mumbai, September 24: The sight of nine-month-old Vinay Dhuri, legs swathed in bandages, is heart-wrenching. But the one person who should have heard the child’s cry of pain is currently behind bars, for hurting him.
Vinay’s father, Harish Dhuri, 30, was arrested on Saturday night after his wife Harshali filed a complaint with the Powai police.
Dhuri, a resident of Tunga village in Powai, returned home drunk on Saturday after a trip to Pune. Police said he began getting annoyed because his son Vinay wouldn’t stop crying.
Dhuri, who works in a private firm as a transport driver, had brought home a bottle of whisky. Though his wife requested him to have dinner, he ignored her and continued to drink.
When Vinay continued to cry incessantly, an enraged Harish went to the bed where the child was lying and forced some whisky down his throat. When Harshali tried to stop him, he pushed her aside.
Harish then suddenly picked the child up and flung him violently on the bed. Shocked, Harshali rushed out of the house screaming for help.
Neighbours immediately took Harshali and the child to her parents’ house in Saki Naka. “Harshali got worried when Vinay wouldn’t stop crying,” said inspector Asha Korke of the Powai police station. “When she checked if he was hurt, she saw that both his thighs were swollen. She then filed a police complaint against her husband.”
Vinay sustained multiple fractures and is currently recuperating at Cooper Hospital in Vile Parle.
Furious at her husband for hurting their child, Harshali said, “We got married four years ago. But we have been quarrelling a lot in the past few months since he thought I was having an affair.
“I did not say anything or file a complaint against him earlier. I have forgiven him many times. But he crossed the line when he harmed our child.”
Harish has been booked for voluntarily causing grievous hurt and been remanded in judicial custody till Friday.
—Agencies