12-year-old travels from Nallasopara to Kalina to kill his grandfather

Illustration/Ravi Jadhav

An impressionable age, a fierce protectiveness of his mother and a tumult within the family made a 12-year-old Nallasopara boy stab his grandfather with a paper cutter last weekend.

The attack was allegedly prompted by his mother's repeated accusation that the grandfather was meddling with their family affairs and was directly responsible for their financial crunch.

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A few months ago, the boy's father who works in West Asia stopped sending home money for the family's expenses allegedly without giving a reason. His mother began to blame the grandfather for this. She suspected that the grandfather, who allegedly doesn't approve of her, tattled on her to her husband for what he called irrelevant expenditure.

"She held up directly responsible for their financial situation. This caused minor flare-ups between the man and the daughter-in-law. Whenever the child asked for money, the mother told him that his grandfather was scheming against them," said Mahadev Waval, senior inspector of Vakola police station.

Resentment builds
Last week, when the young boy again asked his mother for some money, she told him, in a fit of anger, to ask the grandfather. "The mother painted the grandfather as a villain who didn't want to the family to live happily. This enraged the boy and he waited to seek his revenge," said Waval.

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Around 1 pm on February 19, the boy left home without telling his mother, bought a paper cutter, boarded a train for Santacruz and then headed for Kalina - where his grandfather resides - to exact his vengeance.

"When he reached the grandfather's house, he picked an argument with him. The boy accused him of making his mother and him starve," said a Vakola police officer.

Attacks grandpa
The argument soon blew up into a scuffle during which the boy allegedly stabbed the 75-year-old's in the chest, shoulder and face.

Hearing the man's cries, his daughter, who lived next door, rushed to the house.

Aunt attacked
When she intervened, the boy allegedly bit her hand in fury. Neighbours finally came to the old man's rescue and overpowered the boy. The elderly man and his daughter were taken to VN Desai Hospital in Santacruz.

Based on a complaint from his aunt, the boy was booked under sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapon) of the IPC, said Yogesh Langute, Vakola police sub-inspector. The boy was sent to the children's rehabilitation home in Dongri.