Alcohol use disorder: Man, son fatally beat another son in quarrel, held

The 24-year-old who used to pick fights with his family was hacked to death by this father who later cremated the body fearing backlash. The accused along with his elder son was arrested after neighbours alerted the police.

Belagavi: Karnataka Police have arrested a father along with his elder son for murdering his 24 year old son who was suffering from alcohol use disorder and cremating the body in an attempt to pass it off as a natural death, in Belagavi district, officials said on Wednesday.

The arrested were identified as Mahalingayya Gurusiddayya Hiremath (54) and Basayya Hiremath (26) have been arrested by the police and a case has been registered at Harugeri police station. The incident came to light after the neighbours who spotted injuries on the body of the deceased tipped off the police on Tuesday.

Police said the deceased Somayya Mahalingaiah Hiremath was a resident of Hidkal Village, Rayabag taluka, Belagavi district. Somayya was tormenting his family members by consuming alcohol daily and picking up fights with his family day-in and day-out. He would come home drunk and quarrel with his family every night. The family attacked him not withstanding his behaviour on July 10, leading to his death. The family arranged for a funeral and buried the body in a field in their backyard.

"Somayya used to come drunk every day and fight at night and make noise at home. The family seemed to be upset by his behavior. On July 10, Somayya asked his family members to pay him to drink alcohol. The wordy duel escalated into a fist fight. In a fit of rage, Mahalingayya hit Somayya on the head with a stick. Somayya who was seriously injured died on the spot,'' Belagavi SP Sanjeev Patil said.

'After the murder, the family carried out the funeral of the deceased youth. They cremated him in the field on their backyard. However, the villagers informed the police that they had seen the body bearing external injuries before the body was cremated,' SP said.

Based on the complaint, the police went to the spot and picked up the father- son duo for interrogation. The police who visited the cremations site also collected few pieces of skeletons from the spot. The seized skeletons were sent for medical examination. Further investigations are on.

In a similar incident reported in Bengaluru rural district, a father was arrested after he tied his son to a tree and then set him afire. The incident took place last month in Vanigarahalli village of Doddaballapur taluka of Bengaluru rural district. The son reportedly attacked his father and mother after getting intoxicated. The patriarch who got fed up with his acts, tied him down and set him on fire, and killed him.