A three-year-old boy is struggling for life at a government hospital in Rajasthan after his alcoholic stepfather put burning cigarettes on his face, beat him up and clawed him in a drunken condition, police said on Friday.
Sanyam Jain, a resident of Vishala village near Sanchore in Jalore district, was on Thursday admitted to the intensive care unit of Ummed Hospital in Jodhpur, some 400 km from state capital Jaipur.
He has fractures in his hands and legs, burn injuries on his face and private parts. Doctors said that he has also developed the 'battered baby syndrome'.
Police have registered an FIR against the father, Kailash Jain, and are trying to trace him. Police said is yet to be confirmed that he is a doctor himself.
"As per the statements of Sanyam's mother, Nidhi Jain, the boy was tortured by his stepfather at their house," a senior police officer said.
He said Nidhi had married Kialash in 2001, but the couple got separated due to frequent family feuds after a few years. "Nidhi then married one Padamchand in 2007. Sanyam was born in 2010. But as Padamchand was unemployed, she left him after the birth of the child," said the officer.
About three months ago, Kailash lured Nidhi into coming back to him, she said. "He promised that if she lived with him, he would give up alcohol. But soon after Nidhi moved into his house, he started drinking again. He hated the boy particularly," said the officer.
In a statement to police, she said Kailash would not give him food and would torture him.
"Kailash confined the boy to a room at his house Tuesday night and started torturing him in inhuman ways. He put burning cigarettes on his face and threw him on the ground. It fractured his legs and hands. The boy fell unconscious. Despite that Kailash clawed him at several places," said the officer.
When Nidhi tried to intervene, Kailash allegedly beat her up as well.
The incident comes close on the heels of the case of Falak, a two-year-old girl who was abandoned, battered, admitted to a Delhi hospital with human bite marks and is still battling for life.