The Hindu : New Delhi News : Young man kills 8-year-old brother in sibling rivalry

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 05, 2007
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New Delhi

New Delhi

Young man kills 8-year-old brother in sibling rivalry

Staff Reporter

Sonu felt family was showering all the affection on the little boy

Deepak’s body was found in the ridge area of Kusumpur Pahari; his head had been crushed
Sonu broke down during interrogation and allegedly confessed to having murdered Deepak

NEW DELHI: In a bizarre case of sibling rivalry, a young man allegedly crushed the head of his eight-year-old brother with a stone in the jungles near Vasant Kunj this past week as he felt that his family members were showering all their affection on the little boy. The accused has been arrested by the police.

Deepak went missing from his Kusumpur Pahari residence on October 30 morning. A search by his father Dinesh and mother Anita did not yield any result, after which a missing report was lodged with the Vasant Kunj police.

Late at night, Deepak’s elder brother Sonu (20) informed the police that while searching for Deepak, he discovered his body in the ridge area of Kusumpur Pahari, also known as “Lal Khet” jungles. The victim’s head had been crushed from behind. A bloodstained stone was also found there. The body was identified as that of Deepak by his father, following which a case of murder was registered and the post-mortem conducted.

Initially the police investigated the enmity angle as Deepak’s father took a couple of names on suspicion of their involvement. In due course, several people known to the victim’s family were questioned.

Needle of suspicion

Finally the police came across a person who disclosed that he had seen Deepak going towards the jungle with Sonu on that fateful day. The needle of suspicion then turned towards him and he was put to sustained interrogation. A nervous Sonu frequently changed his statement about his whereabouts on the day his brother was murdered.

Eventually Sonu broke down and allegedly confessed to having murdered Deepak. According to the police, Sonu revealed that after he got married about five months ago, he began feeling that his family members were treating him with indifference and were showering all their affection on Deepak. He felt lonely and neglected.

This jealousy filled him with spite and anger. In that mental state, he allegedly decided to get rid of Deepak. According to the police, he earlier made a few vain attempts to kill Deepak by luring him to the jungle area.

On the fateful day around 8 a.m., Sonu took Deepak to the jungle on the pretext of collecting some berries. At a deserted spot, he allegedly attacked Deepak from behind, hitting him twice on the back of the head with a stone. Deepak bled to death on the spot.

Attendance record

To evade detection, Sonu then reported for duty in a Vasant Vihar school. The police found that he had tampered with the attendance record to show that he had reached the school on time.

On the basis of his alleged disclosers and evidence available against him, the police have arrested Sonu. They are investigating to find out if he had made a similar attempt on the life of his other brother Ravinder aged 15.

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