The accused was asleep in a factory and woke up, as some children were playing loudly nearby; angry that he was disturbed, he hit the 18-year-old with an iron rod 15 times

A 24-year-old man beat up a teenage boy to death under the influence of bhang on Monday, the occasion of Holi, owing to a misunderstanding. The accused, identified as Vinod Kumar Paswan, was arrested by the Waliv police station in Vasai.

According to the police, Paswan is a worker in a small-scale industry in the Naik Pada area of Vasai. After celebrating Holi on Monday, he had consumed bhang. Post 1 pm, he went to his factory and slept there, as he was in an inebriated state.

Cops said that while he was sleeping, a few kids were playing outside the factory, and were making a noise by crashing into the shutter of the factory. Paswan got disturbed and was woken up repeatedly. Irritated with the noise, he went out of the factory, where he saw the victim Shiva alias Salman Gullemubarak standing nearby.

“Without even thinking, Paswan picked up an iron rod kept near the factory gate and began beating up Shiva. He hit the boy more than 15 times on his head, due to which he collapsed at the door of the factory,” said S Mali, police sub-inspector at Waliv police station.

Locals then informed the cops about the murder. “We reached the spot and rushed the 18-year-old to the hospital. However, he was declared dead on arrival. We went to the factory and found Paswan lying in a drunk state, with the iron rod covered in blood next to him,” added Mali. Paswan was booked for murder and presented before the court on Tuesday, which remanded him to police custody till tomorrow.