8-Year-Old Boy Dies Hours After Father Bashes Him For Not Eating Dinner

An 8-year-old boy in India died hours after his father thrashed him with a stick for not having dinner. The police have detained the child's father as they await an autopsy report of the boy who reportedly had several other injuries on his body.

The deceased child, identified as 8-year-old Saurabh Bhool, is a native of Nepal, and had recently moved along with his family into Rajkot, a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. Bhool was brought to a hospital after he suffered convulsions and was pronounced dead Thursday morning, police said, as reported by India Today.

The doctors who examined the boy's body found several injuries on him. However, the exact cause of the child's death has not been determined.

When the police questioned the child's father, identified as Siddarth, he initially claimed that the child injured himself while playing. However, Siddarth later admitted to thrashing his son as the boy refused to eat dinner.

Siddarth who works as a security guard in Rajkot brought his family from Nepal seven months ago. He told the police that he got angry Wednesday night when the child did not eat food and beat him with a stick. He repeated the same after two hours when the child misbehaved, police said.

Sourabh went to sleep at around 10 p.m. but had convulsions during his sleep. He was then taken to a nearby private hospital at around 3 a.m. and later referred to a specialty hospital where he was pronounced dead.

“His father confessed that he had thrashed his son but it is very unlikely that the kid died due to that incident. Therefore, we conducted a forensic post-mortem. Once the report comes we will lodge a complaint,’’ the police said, as reported by The Times of India.

Last month, an Arizona mother admitted to fatally beating her 4-year-old child over potty training accidents. Michelle Denise Shirley, 32, of Phoenix, was arrested after the child's stepfather found him unresponsive at his home on May 31, 2021. The toddler was pronounced dead at the hospital.