Body of boy locked inside car was ‘melting’
Born to physicallychallenged parents who struggled to make ends meet by selling vegetable, it was difficult for sixyear-old Sonu to own a car.
Despite his curiosity for vehicles, Sonu had never in his life even stepped into a car, his parents say.
Monday was the first time Sonu landed inside one, a white Hyundai Accent parked outside his home in north Delhi’s Rani Bagh. But he found himself locked inside the car that was heating up by the minute. It was 44 degrees Celsius outside.
During a five-hour search for him by his family and neighbours, no one realised that the boy was trapped in a car parked right outside their doorstep. No one heard his cries either.
Police suspect the heat killed him within minutes.
“When we finally spotted him, we desperately tried to break open the car’s windows. But the car owner came out and opened the car with his key,” said Shyamveer, Sonu’s uncle.
Inside, the boy was lying across the front two seats, his head towards the driver’s seat. His legs were spread between the car’s gears. “I couldn’t bear the heat when I entered the car to bring him out. When I picked him up in my arms, his skin peeled off and stuck to the seats,” said Sonu’s aunt, Manju.
A native of UP’s Bulandshahr, Sonu lived with his parents, Mamta and Ram Gopal, and twoyear-old brother, Monu, in Rani Bagh’s Sant Nagar. His mother had polio and his father lost his left arm to electrocution.
“I pull a cart with one hand to sell vegetable and fruit. My wife takes care of our children. I was selling vegetable near our home when Sonu suddenly went missing,” said Gopal.
It turned out that Sonu and his cousin Luv Kush were taking turns to ride a tricycle at their home when they felt thirsty. Since a pitcher placed on the roadside outside their home provides cold water in the sweltering heat, the cousins walked to it.
A CCTV camera installed at a shop nearby suggests that the boys drank water from the pitcher around 10.30 am. The boys parted ways after that and Sonu went missing. “Some uncle had offered ₹10 to Sonu to take him away. I returned home,” said four-year-old Kush.
This claim by Kush is being cited by Sonu’s family to suspect foul play in the boy’s death. “My son was kidnapped by the car owner who took him away and burnt him to death,” alleged Sonu’s mother, adding she suspected acid was used.
The police, however, have ruled out foul play, saying the car owner who runs a garment business had accidentally left his car unlocked after parking it on the roadside.