The police have apprehended a 14-year-old boy on charges of murdering his 75-year-old grandmother at her residence at Edappatty here for objecting to his smoking.
Alagamma, wife of Allimuthu of Chullimoola, near Edappatty, in the district, was missing since Sunday. Her body was found with a bruised forehead inside a bush near her residence in a joint search led by her relatives, Sunilkumar, Circle Inspector of police, Kalpetta, who is investigating the case, said.
The woman and her husband were living in Eadappatty, and the parents of the boy were granite quarry workers at Kunnamangalam in Kozhikode district. The teenager, a boarding student in a hostel in the district, had come to Edappatty a few days back.
During interrogation, the accused revealed to the police that the incident occurred around 9 a.m. on Sunday after his grandfather went out. When the woman found her grandson smoking inside the bathroom, she warned him that if he didn’t quit smoking, she would tell her husband.
It provoked the boy and he allegedly beat the woman to death with a hammer. He then dragged the body outside and hid it in a bush and went to play with his friends near the house.
When Allimuthu returned, he found his wife missing and started searching for her. The boy also joined him in the search. The boy left for his hostel after taking away Rs.500 from the house.
However the police learned that the boy had left the hostel around 7.p.m. on the day and they started searching for him. Finally, the boy was taken into custody from the Kozhikode KSRTC bus stand in the late night, Mr. Sunilkumar said.
The boy would be produced before the District Juvenile Justice board, he added.
The boy beat the woman to death with a hammer for objecting to his smoking.
