Thiruvananthapuram: The agonising tale of a nine-year-old boy subjected to severe torture by his parents in Adimali in Kerala’s Idukki district has shocked the state after it came under the media spotlight.
According to reports, it was the boy’s mother Seleena who inflicted most of the torture on the boy, identified as Naufal. There are also reports that the woman is mentally unstable. The boy’s father, Nazir, was recently arrested by police after over possession of drugs.
The family maintained a distance from relatives and even close family members were in the dark about the brutality meted out to the boy.
It is suspected that the boy was severely beaten with an iron rod on multiple occasions and that he may also have been starved. Naufal, who is a Class 4 student at the Adimali government school, has two siblings.
The boy is presently being treated in a hospital in Ernakulam and is being cared for by volunteers of Childline, a child protection agency.
The boy’s mother has been taken into custody by police.
When found by his relatives, who subsequently informed Childline officials, Naufal was found with torture marks all over his body, rendering him almost immobile. It is feared that he was also hit with a dehusked coconut.
Angry locals set fire to a shop run by Naufal’s father and smashed his autorickshaw. Firetenders put out the blaze.
It may be recalled that a similar case was reported three years ago, also from Idukki district. That case involved a five-year-old boy, Shafeeq, who was subjected to extreme cruelty by his father and step-mother. After being rescued, the boy was on life-support system in a local hospital for weeks before he was ruled out of danger.
The state government supported further treatment of Shafeeq in a hospital in neighbouring Tamil Nadu and he is presently under the care of the state government. The incident was reported from Kumily in Idukki district.
