Man gets five years in jail for hurling infant son to death

A man has been sent to five years in jail for causing the death of his 18-month-old son by hurling him from the second floor of a building with a Delhi court ruling that the act was unintentional.
Additional Sessions Judge JR Aryan convicted Hari Om, a native of Etawah in UP, on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and handed the jail term saying he had thrown the toddler off the second floor in a fit of rage following a quarrel with his wife.
"The act of Hari in throwing his own child could be said to have been done in the sudden heat of passion without there being requisite intention of committing the murder of the child," the judge said, adding that if Hari had intended to murder his son, he could have adopted any other method.

"In totality of the facts and circumstances, I find that the sentence of five years under Section 304-II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of IPC will meet the ends of justice," the judge said.
According to the prosecution, Hari's wife Arti lodged a complaint with police alleging that on April 22, 2013, her husband killed their son by throwing him from the second floor of her sister's residence where she had taken shelter following threats from the accused.
Arti told police that Hari used to suspect her fidelity and would assault her after consuming alcohol. Fed up with the daily torture and threats, she had eventually gone to her sister's house in north-east Delhi.

It was there that the accused visited her three days later and, following a quarrel, threw their son from the second floor with the intention of killing him, Arti had told police. The child was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead.
An FIR was lodged in the matter against Hari under Section 302 (murder) of IPC. The court, however, diluted the murder charge and held him guilty of the offence of unintentional killing.
During the trial, Hari denied committing any cruelty towards or physical torture of Arti and said that their child had fallen from the second floor while playing with other children. He had also sought leniency on the plea that he has to look after two unmarried sisters and an aged father.