Battered boy narrates tale of abuse

HASSAN: "I love my mother but I'm scared to go back to her."
That's the dilemma of 7-year-old Yashas who was admitted to hospital after being beaten black and blue by his mother on Monday. He told TOI: "She'll thrash me again and so will her brother Punith as both hate me. I'll stay with my father or grandmother."
Recalling Sunday's incident, he said: "I was saved by my neighbour Jaya aunty and her daughter.They took me with them and applied ointment on my face. At night, my mother took me home and made me sleep without giving me any food."
He continued: "Since childhood my mother would beat me for no reason at all. After she took me to my granny's place after fighting with my father in March, her brother Punith started beating me too. He'd send me to the wine shop to get liquor and also buy cigarettes. He'd burn my body with cigarette butts and at times lock me in a room and beat me with a belt.
"On Tuesday, I tried to get out of the house but my mother locked me in the house with my sister. I came out through the back door and went to grandma's house but she'd gone to work. While returning, I became unconscious and fell in the street. My neighbours gave me food."
His grandma Rajeshwari told TOI, "On March 22, my daughter Laxmi came to my house after fighting with her husband Sridhar. I told her many times to go back but she didn't pay attention. Punith said he'd take care of her and her kids. But he'd thrash the kids. I told him many times that he was doing a wrong thing but he ignored me. I shifted to a rented house on the same street."
She added: "Laxmi married my brother Shridar nine years ago. She was nice to him early on but after Yashas was born, she'd fight with him."
Sridhar said: "I know how to take care of my kids. After getting Yashas discharged from hospital I'll take my kids to my sister's house near Hanubal, Sakleshpur. Next year, I'll admit my son to a school in Dharwad as one of my sisters works there."
He added: "On Friday, I went to the police station to ask about my complaint but police haven't arrested Laxmi. Some constables said police will close the case after taking a statement from her." Dr Lakshmish, orthopaedic department, Hassan Institute of Medical Sciences, Hassan, said, "The left hand had a minor bone fracture and we have put a plaster of paris cast. It'll be there for a month. The facial injuries will heal in about six weeks. We'll discharge him in a few days as he's recovering well."
I've ordered the arrest of Laxmi on Friday itself. Policemen went to her house in the evening, but she wasn't there ," Amit Singh, SP, Hassan.