New Delhi: A 44-year-old man was sentenced to life for killing a three-year-old boy after he allegedly broke a tea cup. A Mumbai session court on Wednesday delivered the judgment in the case that dates back to 2017. The court awarded life imprisonment to the man, based on the testimony of the child’s elder sister, who witnessed the crime at the age of five.
The accused, Nitin Pathare, was found guilty of murder and destruction of evidence, with the court noting that the child and later buried his body to conceal the crime.
“In regard to the incident, she (the sister) stated that Nitin gave tea to her brother. The cup slipped from the child’s hands and broke. Nitin then assaulted him with a belt and his hands, strangulated him, and hit him on the floor… The evidence reflects that the accused, with the intention to kill, caused such injuries that led to his death,” additional sessions judge Mahesh K Jadhav said, Indian Express reported.
Pathare had first met the victim’s mother on a train when she was travelling with her two children. They came across each other again in Mumbai when she came to meet a lawyer to file a plea seeking financial support from her estranged husband. This time, Pathare took her and her children to his home, promising to find a job for her. However, the woman later alleged that he confined them and threatened to kill her children.
In September 2017, the accused allegedly called her when she was out in search of work, claiming that her boy had suffered an epileptic attack and collapsed. When she came back, he told her that he had killed her son. The woman alleged that the accused also threatened to kill her five-year-old daughter. The girl later told her mother that Pathare strangled the three-year-old with his belt for breaking a teacup.
The matter came to light after the woman mustered courage and managed to escape and later alerted the police with the help of neighbours.