Boy slaps case on father for branding him

In a rare kind of case, a Class III boy on Saturday lodged a police complaint against his father for branding him with a hot ladle for playing all the time and not concentrating on studies. The boy, who was accompanied by his elder sister, was sent to a hospital for treatment and the police are searching for his father who is absconding.

Eight-year-old Egala Siddhu, son of Venu, is a class three students at the Municipal Corporation Upper Primary School at Ramanaiahpeta. His sister Lavanya is a sixth class student in the same school.

Venu, an almirah repairer, had reportedly warned his son several times against neglecting studies but the child had ignored his warnings.

On Friday night, an enraged Venu caught hold of Siddhu while he was playing on the terrace of their house and branded him on his hands and hip with a hot ladle. Siddhu’s mother treated the boy’s injuries at home before sending him to bed.

When Siddhu and Lavanya went to school the next day, the teachers observed the boy’s wounds. They also said he was shivering with fever in the classroom. When the teachers reported the incident to the headmaster Subba Rao, he questioned Lavanya, who narrated the entire episode.

Subba Rao then took the children to the police station and helped them lodge  a complaint against Venu. Later, Siddhu was admitted to the Government General Hospital. Sarpavaram inspector S Nageswara Rao said a case has been registered under Section 324 of the IPC against Venu, who is still at large.

Later, Lavanya told mediapersons that though her mother had tried to prevent her father from branding Siddhu, he had not listened to her. After branding him with the ladle, Venu had also caned Siddhu, she said. Lavanya accompanied her brother in the hospital throughout the day as their mother, who had gone for work, was not aware of the happenings at school till late in the evening.