A highly traumatised eight-year-old boy is the only survivor of the massacre that took place in Uttar Pradesh’s Deoria district.
The incident happened on Monday. The Class 3 student is in a critical condition and is undergoing treatment at the BRD Medical College in Gorakhpur.
Doctors say the boy has sustained multiple injuries, but his vital organs are safe. He is yet to recover from the trauma.
“He is the only survivor of the ghastly act,” said Vikesh Babu, a local resident who is taking care of the boy in the hospital.
A police officer said that the boy was in a semi-conscious state when he was brought to the hospital. He kept repeating “papa” when doctors were administering injections to him.
According to the boy’s account, the family had woken up and were preparing for breakfast when they suddenly heard cries for help from Satya Prakash, the boy’s father.
“His eldest sister Saloni ,18, rushed to help him, but then she too shouted for help. Thereafter, his mother Kiran rushed to help,” the police officer said.
Later, Gandhi ,15, and Nandini ,10, who were playing outside in the backyard, also rushed to the scene and were attacked as well. While Kiran tried to save her children, she was hit from behind with a hard object and fell.
The mob fled when the locals began gathering after hearing the cries for help.
A relative of the victims said the boy was consoled by being told that his parents and siblings were alive and in another hospital.
Meanwhile, the post mortem conducted on the bodies of the six deceased revealed the gruesome nature of the crime.
Police sources said that Satya Prakash Dubey suffered a gunshot injury on his chest at point-blank range.
“It led to blackening and formation of a tattoo on the right side of his chest, leading to the death,” said an officer.
The skull of Prem Yadav, one of the deceased, was found tobe smashed, besides 10 grievous injuries on his body, which seem to have been caused by a heavy object.
The other deceased, Kiran, Gandhi and Nandini, sustained multiple injuries while Saloni’s neck was slashed with a sharp-edged weapon, the officer said.
A forensic officer, who visited the crime scene at Dubey’s residence, said that marks of forced entry were visible on the main door. “The house was splattered with blood stains,” he said.
Police have registered an FIR on the complaint of Nisha Dubey, Satya Prakash’s eldest daughter. He added that a complaint from the family of Prem Yadav was yet to be received.
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