A horrifying murder of a toddler came to light in Bengaluru, where the little boy was allegedly murdered by his neighbour for a spat over pet pigeons.
According to the Soladevanahalli Police, 2-year-old Venkatesh was found dead a few kilometres away from his home.
Police say that Ramesh*, a 14-year-old allegedly confessed to killing Venkatesh after an argument over pigeons.
The little boy, Venkatesh’s parents Basavaraj and Venkamma make a living out of selling meals on a pushcart on Soladevanahalli Main Road. The accused Ramesh is the son of a tea vendor who, lived next door to Venkatesh.
According to the police, the two families had always been fighting over over trivial issues for a few months now.
“The two families were not friendly with each other and they fought all the time. Just last week, the two families fought over Basavaraj’s sons misplacing an aluminium vessel which belong to the tea vendor’s dog,” Soladevanahalli Police said.
Last week, Ramesh had bought three pigeons for Rs 300 and kept them in a cage at his home. “The older boy did not allow Venkatesh to touch the pigeons but Venkatesh enjoyed watching the birds. Vekatesh would feed the birds regularly and the accused did not like this,” the police added.
At around 10.40 am on Wednesday, Venkatesh and his older brothers allegedly opened the cage and set the pigeons free. The birds are said to have flown into a eucalyptus grove nearby.
“When the older boy got back from school after 3pm, he was angry after realising that the pigeons were missing. He barged into Venkatesh’s house and demanded to know what he had done to the birds. Venkatesh is said to have told the boy what happened. The accused took Venkatesh and his five-year-old brother into the eucalyptus grove and caught one of the pigeons there,” the police added.
When Ramesh had the pigeon in his hand, Venkatesh allegedly screamed as he was happy and this led to the pigeon flying away again.
Ramesh had managed to catch one of the pigeons when Venkatesh screamed, allowing the pigeon to fly away.
“The accused lost his temper and slapped Venkatesh, kicked him and later stamped on his neck. The boy suffocated to death but the accused assumed that he was unconscious, left the little boy in the grove and got back home,” the police alleged.
As Venkatesh did not get back home for a while, his mother began searching for him and entered the grove to fin him lying there. She rushed him to a nearby private hospital, where he was declared brought dead.
Initially, Venkatesh’s parents had blamed their neighbour and tea vendor for their son’s death. After preliminary probe, the police found that father was not in the vicinity at the time of the murder. “That’s when we heard of the missing pigeons and the boy came forward and confessed to what happened,” the police stated.
After the Child Welfare Committe members were informed, Ramesh was sent to a correctional facility. “We are still probing the case to be sure before charging the boy,” the police added.
*Name changed