A Nigerian father who was convicted of beating his 12-year-old son to death for not doing homework, has been sentenced to 10 years in jail.
ZA, 37, will be deported after serving his sentence.
The man rushed his son’s body to hospital one day in April last year telling doctors that he had given his son milk and the boy took ill after that, complaining of stomach pain and vomiting.
Meanwhile, the boy’s private tuition teacher, Pakistani, 52-year-old GI, claimed that she had seen bruises on the boy’s face and body several times.
She said that the boy first evaded her questions but later revealed that his dad beats him and added that one day the boy pleaded with her to help him in a subject that she did not teach him. The boy claimed that if she did not help him solve the math, his dad would beat him, the teacher testified.
The boy’s situation was discussed at a school meeting and the father was summoned. He, however, told the supervisor that he wanted his son to excel in his studies because he spend all his money on his education.
The security guard at the building also testified that he had one day heard screams and on checking found the man pushing his son underwater. When he intervened, the man allegedly dismissed him saying he was teaching his son swimming.
CCTV footages revealed the dad taking the boy to swimming pool when no one was there and he had a stick with him.
The watchman also recalled seeing bruises on the boy and one day he caught the boy with a swollen forehead.
The father confessed to police that he beat up his son with a wooden stick or shoes or punched him. Allegedly on April 18, the father received an email from the school about his son’s low performance.
“I punished him and prevented him from going out. I asked him to stay at home and do his homework. He was being careless, so I slapped him in the face, but he continued drawing in his book. I got angry and beat him up and then again asked him to do his homework. Then I gave him milk and asked him to continue doing his homework. However, he started vomiting, and told me that he had stomach pain,” the man told police.
“While I was in the kitchen, I heard a sound. On looking I found my son on the floor. I took him to the bathroom and then asked him to clean up. But again in the bathroom he fell down. So I took him to hospital,” the father added.
He said he took the boy to hospital at 10.30pm but records show the boy was in hospital only around midnight. He was declared dead on arrival at hospital.
DNA tests reveal that the boy was not his biological son.
Police found blood vomit at home. They also found an iPad that the boy used, through which he had sought help online. A sentence reading, “Help, I got hit on my stomach,” was found on the iPad.
Post-mortem revealed that the boy died due to internal bleeding. His intestines were also damaged.
The man had denied the charges of pre-meditated murder. He was sentenced to 10 years in jail, after which he will be deported.
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