Hyderabad: A four-year-old boy died four days after his father allegedly smashed his head against a pillar on the PVNR Expressway in full public view, police said. The boy succumbed to his injuries on Aug 9, days after the assault left him fighting for his life.Doctors told police the boy’s skull was shattered in the attack. Doctors at Niloufer Hospital, where the boy was undergoing treatment, did not wish to divulge further details of his condition or the exact cause of death.The accused, Salman, 25, already has a suspect sheet registered against him at Golconda police station in several cases of theft, as well as a documented history of violence against his family, police said. “He suspected his wife of infidelity and believed that the boy was not his biological son. His wife and mother had filed several complaints with Golconda police over his violent behaviour in the past, and the family was counselled and sent back home,” said investigating officer Upendra Babu told TOI.Salman’s family, addressing the media, demanded swift justice. “He would hit us everyday and was addicted to alcohol. He was very suspicious of all of us and often tortured us. I had tried stopping him when he was taking my grandson out but he did not listen. The assault was gruesome. Nothing was left of my grandson. We want justice,” said Salman’s mother Israth Begum.The attack took place on the morning of Aug 5, near Pillar No. 104 under the PVNR expressway in Gudimalkapur. Police said Salman and his wife, Rukhsana Begum, had quarrelled the previous night, after which Salman allegedly assaulted her and his mother while drunk. Rukhsana left for her parental home with her two daughters, leaving Armaan behind with his father.The next morning, Salman allegedly told the boy he was taking him to his brother’s house in Kanchanbagh, but instead took him to the pillar, held him by the legs, and repeatedly banged his head against it. Witnesses said he had first tried to push the child under a moving DCM vehicle before assaulting him. Shocked onlookers overpowered Salman and thrashed him before he fled; he was later traced and taken into custody. Locals meanwhile rushed the unconscious boy to hospital.Police have now altered the case from attempt to murder to Section 103 of the BNS (murder). Salman was produced in court and remanded to judicial custody.
