Daijiworld Media Network

Pune, Aug 7: In a shocking incident, a woman allegedly beat up her partially disabled son to death with a cricket bat, alleging that he had made 'sexual advances' at her. A case of murder was registered against the mother in Vishrantwadi police station after the incident came to light on Thursday August 6.

It is alleged that Rakhi Balpande (36) mercilessly beat up her son Chaitanya (13), who was partially disabled. She had married Tarun in 2000, but the couple separated later and their divorce case is pending in court, sources said.

Sources said that initially Rakhi had claimed that her son had died after falling in the bathroom, but during interrogation, she reportedly confessed to have beaten him to death and claimed that he had made 'sexual advances' at her.

It is learnt that Rakhi had filed a case of 'domestic violence' against her husband Tarun, based on which she won the sole custody of Chaitanya and refused to allow Tarun to meet his son.

As per a report carried by Mid-Day, her husband Tarun alleged that Rakhi had beaten their son to death after he insisted on meeting his father. Tarun currently resides in Nagpur, and on learning of his son's death, he rushed to Pune.

"When I saw my son’s dead body, I could not believe my eyes. The police had filed a case of accidental death but I was waiting for the results of the post-mortem. I knew that she had beaten him because there were a lot of injury marks on his body. I work in a pathology lab and was able to identify the nature of injuries on Chaitanya’s body," Tarun told Mid-Day.

Sources also said that Rakhi had stopped Chaitanya's education after sixth grade and kept him locked up at home. As per a statement by Rakhi's sister, the mother did not even allow her son to play with other kids.

ACP Swapna Gore said that Rakhi confessed to the crime during interrogation. "When we interacted with her in the evening she confessed that she had thrashed her son with a bat after he tried to get physically intimate with her on Monday," he said, adding that Chaitanya had sustained multiple injuries. A doctor added that the boy's internal organs were also damaged, and that the post-mortem report had revealed that he had last eaten one-and-a-half-days before his death.

Chaitanya was brought to hospital by Rakhi in her house owner's car on Wednesday at 10 pm, an hour after his death, sources said.

Police sources said that Rakhi would habitually beat her son and for this reason, had even compelled her mother to shift base to Nagpur, as the latter would prevent her from thrashing the boy.

Rakhi has been arrested and further investigations are on.

Speaking to daijiworld, Johan Sequeira who has a men's rights group in Suratkal near Mangaluru, condemned the incident and said that if the boy had been in the custody of the father, this tragedy would not have occured. "How can a 13-year-old boy make sexual advances against his own mother?" he questioned.