Man who deserted minor daughters killed 2-yr-old son: Police

 

New Delhi, Aug 28 2016, (PTI): The father of the two minor girls, who were rescued in a battered condition from a room in outer Delhi’s Samaypur Badli area, has been arrested and charged with murder of his two-year-old son, police said today.

 

Bunty Gupta, 36, was absconding since August 17 after abandoning his two daughters, aged three and eight years, who were rescued last week from a dark, closed room with maggots infesting their bodies.

 

In a story that reeks of extreme parental apathy, vagaries of alcoholism, joblessness and poverty, Gupta allegedly not only abandoned his minor daughters to die, but also killed his son by flinging him in the Munak Canal on August 18, police said.

 

"Gupta left his two minor daughters in the house and took the son away with him on August 18. He threw the child in the canal. The body of the child was recovered on the same day but nobody came forward to claim the body. We had even gone to Sonipat to find the identity of the child but didn’t get any clue," said DCP (outer) Vikramjeet Singh.

 

The police were on the lookout for Gupta and received a tip-off that he has been seen roaming in Samaypur Badli area by the locals late last night. He was arrested around 1 AM today from near Nepali Colony where he used to stay with his family, police said, adding they were searching for his wife Jyoti, who had allegedly left him for another man.

 

Gupta told the police that Jyoti had left him a few months ago taking their son with her. Later she returned and handed over the son to him, the DCP said. According to the police, the accused was worried about taking care of his three children and decided to abandon them.

 

"He said he did not have money to even feed his children. He was not in a position to feed them or get them adequate treatment for their wounds," said the officer. Gupta, allegedly a drunkard, was a resident of Teliwara in Sadar Bazar area but was living with his wife and children in Samaypur Badli since his marriage.

 

Meanwhile, his two daughters were recuperating at the Baba Saheb Ambedkar Hospital, where they were admitted after being rescued by the policemen.  After their story was highlighted, help has been pouring in for the two girls from locals as well as NRIs. Yesterday, a teacher came forward to help them and offered monetary aid of Rs 15 lakh and there were calls from the US offering money for the treatment of girls, an official said.

 

The girls have bonded well with the constables who are stationed at the hospital to take care of them.

 

The constables keep getting them chips and biscuits and even get food prepared for them from their wives. The girls were deserted by their father and were left to die in a dark room on August 17. Their wounds were infected with maggots and they were found living in extremely bad conditions in a house in Nepali Colony in Badlipur on August 19. Police have already registered a case under IPC section 317 (abandonment of a child under 12 years by parents or guardian) and section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act and after Gupta’s confession, murder charges were added to the FIR.