Hyderabad, April 23: Mystery shrouds the attack on a nine-year-old boy, who was found beaten almost to death, in a building under construction in Neredmet on Friday while his family alleged it was a human sacrifice attempt by the building owner.
The boy, V. Rajesh, was admitted to the Gandhi Hospital. Doctors say the injuries suffered by the boy are critical and that he should be kept under observation for the next two days.
Owner of the building, Suvarna, a grocery store owner, and her son, Shiva, refuted the charges during interrogation, Alwal ACP P. Santosh Kumar said.
Son of a construction labourer couple, V. Nagaraju and V. Laxmi, the boy stepped out of his house in Vinayaknagar after his mother told him to purchase a detergent powder packet the previous night. “The boy went to a shop across the road as the one in our lane was closed. We approached the Neredmet police as the boy didn’t return home even after two hours,” his parents told the police. The boy’s family searched the entire area and inquired with the relatives all through the night.
The next morning, a worker, Sattaiah, called the police on seeing the boy lying unconscious on the first-floor of the three-storied building.
Investigators’ take
Investigators felt the attackers either hit the boy with bricks or banged his head against the walls wounding his forehead and chin.
Two of his teeth were broken. The building owner tried to sacrifice our son to the new building, his parents alleged in their complaint with the police. However, the police say that they didn’t find any material at the crime scene to suggest it was an attempt of human sacrifice.
The persons in question, the building owner and son, maintained they were in their house the Thursday night. Where did the boy go after he left the house at 8 p.m.? Was he detained in the building all through the night or taken somewhere before being brought to the building again and attacked? Investigators are trying to find answers to ascertain the human sacrifice angle.
-Agencies