5-year-old beaten to death in Delhi madrasa by fellow students in hopes of 'holiday'

New Delhi: Three students, aged between 9 and 11 years, were apprehended for allegedly beating a five-year-old inmate to death in northeast Delhi's Dayalpur, police said on Saturday.

Earlier in the day, police had said that the boy died under mysterious circumstances as there were blisters on the his neck, abdomen, and groin area.

According to a police officer, after the autopsy it was found that the boy had multiple internal injuries as well. His liver was ruptured and there was bleeding in abdomen and right lung.

More investigation revealed that he was beaten by other inmates, who were apprehended, he said.

During interrogation, the accused gave conflicting reasons behind the incident.

According to one version, the victim had abused them and that led to a fight with him, while the other claimed they beat him thinking his death will lead to declaration of holiday from madrasa.

A CCTV footage has confirmed the findings and police are probing role of others, a police statement said.

According to police, they had received a call about the death of a boy at Brijpuri madrasa at 9.52 pm on Friday.

"At 6.30 pm on Friday, the boy's mother was informed that her son was sick. She took him to a private hospital in Brijpuri, where doctors declared him dead," a police officer said.

She returned with her son's body to the madrasa where a large crowd gathered.

People kept the body on the road outside the madrasa and demanded action against the administration, the officer said.

Police reached the spot and took the body to the mortuary of GTB Hospital and assured the crowd of an investigation after which it dispersed, the officer said.

The mother, a domestic help in west Delhi's Punjabi Bagh area, told police that her son had been studying at the madrasa for the past five months.

The boy's father lives in Uttar Pradesh and comes here once a month. The couple has two more children, a 10-year-old boy and eight-year-old girl, who live with the mother.

Haji Din Mohammad is the principal of the madrasa, where about 250 boys study. Of these, 150 are from outside Delhi, primarily from Uttar Pradesh, police said.