Devaraj, a resident of a slum near Malleshwaram, has been having an extramarital affair with Fatima (31), the mother of three. Ever since he moved in with the mother and children, he has been torturing and forcing Fatima's tiny children aged between 5 and 3 years into begging for money.
If they returned home early or empty handed, he used to thrash the children and burn them with cigarettes, said the neighbours.
One evening the three children Gayatri (5), Badri (4) and Vishwa (3) were too frightened to return home so they stood shivering in the cold near a temple.
Susheela, a housewife, noticed the three kids begging near her house and observed the severe burn injuries on their faces and hands.
She immediately took the children into her house, fed them and took them to a hospital for treatment.
The doctors found around 50 burnt wounds on their bodies and when they were asked about their wounds they broke down and revealed their tragic story.
“My uncle beats us and forces us to beg. If we refused, he used to burn our faces and fingers and stopped us from going to school,” said 5-year-old Gayatri, the oldest child.
Susheela and her brother Prabhakara, visited the children’s house where they found Fatima and Devaraj, drunk and sleeping on the pavement.
When Devaraj saw the children, he has shouted at them for coming back home so early.
While Prabhakar and some neighbours thrashed Devaraj into submission, one of the children cheered them on, urging them to teach him a lesson.
Prabhakar, with the help of the neighbours, handed Devaraj over to the Vyalikaval Police station. The police arrested Devaraj and detained Fathima for further questioning.
“When we saw the tiny children near our house with burn marks all over their faces, we clearly understood someone had been exploiting them. When we enquired with the children our doubts were confirmed.” – Prabhakar, rescuer.
Fatima had no love for her husband or his three children which is why she never stopped Devaraj, from torturing her own children, the police say.
Now, Fatima has been asking the police to hand over her children, assuring the police that she would take good care of them. The neighbours, however, urged the police not to let the kids live with Fatima.
The three tiny tots have been handed over to volunteers from child helpline Bosco Mane and will be produced before the child welfare committee.
