A man has been arrested on charges of sodomising and killing his two-year-old son on Monday night.
Mohammad Saleem was arrested this evening after he confessed to having committed the crime during questioning by the Dera Bassi police, sources said.
He allegedly murdered his son after subjecting him to unnatural sex on the outskirts of Mahiwala village where the family lives in a one-room house near the fields.
A case has been registered against the accused under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act at the Dera Bassi police station.
Harbir Singh Atwal, SP (Detective), said Saleem had cooked up a story that his son, who was sleeping with him, went missing on Monday night. The family started looking for the boy and later, at some distance, saw somebody imposing himself on their son, who fled away on seeing them.
The accused got an FIR registered at the Dera Bassi police station stating that he saw somebody thrashing his son. However, no external injury was found on the victim’s body.
Atwal said prima facie evidence suggested that the minor was sexually assaulted. The family was asked to take the two-year-old victim, Mohammad Farman, to the PGI, but it took him back to the village. The family was trying to dispose of the body without informing the police, but a few villagers insisted that an FIR be registered. All this raised suspicion over the family.
During interrogation, the victim's father could not answer police queries satisfactorily. Later, the accused confessed to his crime.
A medical report prepared by doctors on a questionnaire sent by the police seeking clarity on the postmortem report confirmed that the two-year-old was sexually abused before being killed.
“The victim was subjected to anal perforation. There were a few marks on the victim's neck," said a doctor on condition of anonymity.
