Uttar Pradesh: Firozabad Man Kills Estranged Cousin’s Baby After She Rejects Marriage Proposal; Arrested
Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh: A two-year-old boy was killed Saturday after a 24-year-old man allegedly threw him on a road after the child’s mother rejected his marriage proposal in Firozabad’s Yadav Colony on Saturday, June 30.
The victim, Aarav, lived with his mother Rati Devi, 24, a teacher in the Araon area. Rati had been staying at her parental home in Bamai village, 45 km from Firozabad headquarters, after separating from her husband Suneet due to marital disputes. She had been living there since January 2025 and gave birth to Aarav at her maternal home.
On Saturday, Rati and her mother Pinki Devi went to Shikohabad to seek legal advice on divorce proceedings. With their advocate appointment scheduled for the evening, they stayed at the house of Pinki’s friend Pushpalata Pathak in Yadav Colony. Pushpalata had recently been injured in a road accident.Police said the accused, Jitendra Pathak alias Viraj, runs a grocery shop in Budaun district and is a cousin of Rati’s husband. He had grown close to her family while helping with the divorce. During this time, he allegedly proposed marriage to Rati multiple times, but she refused.Viraj followed them to Shikohabad and again pressured Rati to finalise the divorce and marry him.
When the mother and her mother refused, he allegedly took Aarav outside around 2:30 pm on the pretext of buying him a toffee. the accused took the child to a deserted stretch about 50 metres from the house and threw him on the ground repeatedly.CCTV footage reviewed by police allegedly showed Viraj throwing the child on the road at least eight times. He then picked up the child, looked around, left the body outside the gate and fled.
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Family members found Aarav near the gate about 10 minutes later.Senior officers reached the spot and sent the body for postmortem. An FIR was registered at Shikohabad police station under BNS section 103(1), murder. Investigators said the accused saw the child as an obstacle to his wish to marry Rati.
SP City Ravi Shanker Prasad said four teams were formed to arrest the accused. Acting on a tip-off that Viraj was near Mainpuri Road, police laid a cordon. When officers tried to stop him, he opened fire. Police returned fire and Viraj sustained gunshot injuries to both legs. He was arrested and shifted to the district hospital.
After the arrest, the mother demanded the accused death penalty. “My son’s murderer should be given the death penalty. If no one can punish him, then hand him over to me. We will tear him apart and kill him.” the angered mother said.
