In a gruesome incident, a 36-year-old man attacked his wife and infant son with a brick and then stabbed them to death after a minor scuffle on Monday night. Police said that Shobha (25) and her one-and-a-half-year-old son, Anil, were found lying in a pool of blood by a neighbour in the slum area of West Delhi’s Jahangirpuri G block. The accused, Om Prakash, has been absconding since the incident was reported on Tuesday morning.
A senior police officer said, “The incident happened on Monday night when all the family members were sleeping after a quarrel started between Shobha and her husband, Om Prakash.”
The officer said, “On Monday, when everybody was sleeping, Om Prakash, reportedly under the influence of alcohol, took out a brick and a knife and thrashed Shobha multiple times. When Anil, who was sleeping with Shobha, started crying, Om Prakash stabbed him too and fled. The officer added that the entire crime was witnessed by the couple’s six-year-old son who on Tuesday morning informed a neighbour.
Police said that they are looking at Om Prakash, who is missing, as the prime suspect.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Northwest) Aslam Khan said the bodies of the victims, Shobha and her son Anil, were recovered from the first floor of the house. The bodies bore multiple injuries.
“It seems the woman’s husband Om Prakash killed his wife, son and fled. We have constituted a team to nab him,” said the DCP, adding they were probing all other angles as well. A relative of the victim told police that the couple used to fight over petty issues. “On Monday night, they had dinner with other family members after which an argument ensued. The matter was, however, sorted out with the intervention of family members and the couple with their two sons went to sleep on the first floor of their house. In the morning, Shobha and Anil were found dead,” said the relative.
Police said that the bodies have been sent for the postmortem examination in a Government hospital. The elder son has given a statement to police that he saw his father beating his mother and younger brother. Police said the father, however, did not harm the elder son.
“We have taken the statement from the elder son but the reason and the exact sequence of the incident will be clear once his father is nabbed,” added Khan. According to police, Om Prakash is a painter and lived in a joint family in a two-storey house in Jahangirpuri. He married Shobha ten years ago. Om Prakash’s younger brother lives on the ground floor with his family, said police.